MindTrap
by H. B. Dragonheart
Summary: The Hero of Time has become its guardian, the Fierce Deity but Link's not finding his new place in history easy, as fighting inner demons is as hard as battling those around you... pt 3 of 4
1. Prologue

**Mindtrap**  
_Part 3 of 'The Hero's Many Faces'_

(Disclaimer: Do I have to say it? (sigh) I don't own Zelda, Link, anyone, anything... well, except a couple of characters, you'll see who. Alright, onto the tale...) 

- 

**_Prologue: Reflections_**

- 

_They call me the Fierce Deity. Link, to my friends. Oni, to my enemies._

_Where did it all start?   
At the beginning of time, when four gods and goddesses created the worlds and everything in them?  
Thousands of years ago, when Din, Farore and Nayru exiled... their brother... for daring to love a human?_

_For me... I'd say it all started twenty-four years ago. Why? Easy. I was born. Although... I don't yet know if that is the right word... I still haven't found my real family - if they even survive, if they even exist. One day, I can only hope that...  
(Malon... Alena... )  
My first eleven years? I think you know. The story's got around. I think Termina and Hyrule - my Termina, my Hyrule, anyway - will be passing around the tale of a child warrior as long as I'm around to hear it. You've heard of the Hero of Time? Yes? That's me. In a way, anyway. I know that sounds strange. It even confuses me sometimes. But the other tales I hear about myself... I'm going off the track. I'll come back to that topic._

_Still... when I was eleven, my world was turned upside down.  
If you were in Termina about twelve, thirteen years ago - by my timescale, anyway - you'd have seen the moon hanging in the sky as if it was going to fall out of the heavens. It's my intervention that stopped it. In the process, I found an immensely powerful artifact - left to me and me alone, it seems - known as the Fierce Deity's Mask. (See?) I first used its powers - my powers, as they are now - to defeat the demon that was pulling the moon towards this catastrophe. I survived that encounter easily enough.  
It was the next that caused the problem. My first enemy - the Evil King, Ganon - had been set free of his prison in the Dark World. I guess now that it was the fault of the... of my... of the three goddesses - they'd released him to force me to use the powers they had left me once more to defeat him. That time - I couldn't release myself from what had taken me over. The Seven Sages - my Hyrule's seven protectors - had to step in. They freed my spirit from my body, leaving my memories behind in the form I had inhabited - but with my soul now residing in another.  
I was now two people. On one hand, part of me was (physically) much as I am now - 'Lord Oni'kara', a creature of darkness and rage, who took control of Hyrule just to satisfy his/my cravings for battle and revenge. On the other - my spirit had been reborn on Lon Lon Ranch, living a second childhood by the name of 'Kaelon'. Ironic, really... considering...  
It was ten years, nearly to the day after that had happened, that I - or Kae, at least - realised the truth. I/he managed to get into the Gerudo Fortress, and encounter my/his other half. When they/I locked swords - I was reunited. At last, my body and mind were one and the same again - but I still had the memories of the atrocities I had committed. They torture my mind to this day - and possibly to the end of time. How could I...  
I tell myself, there's no right, no wrong, only what will and will not happen. But it doesn't really work._

_On that note, I fled Hyrule for Termina, unable to live with what I had done. I thought I would never be able to settle my mind again...  
But...  
On my first night there, I'd decided to visit the Milk Bar. I don't think that it's possible to get drunk on Chateau Romani, but I had half a mind to try... But, before I could even begin... I found her.   
Alena.   
The first thing I noticed was the fact that she's the counterpart of Hyrule's Zelda - another ironic detail. Or is it that Zelda is her counterpart? I don't know and I don't care... And the next was her personality. I don't know whether it was love at first sight - but it was friendship, there and then. We spent the entire night talking, and before I knew it we'd arranged to meet up again. And again. Eventually, a few weeks after we'd first met, she revealed that her father had space for a lodger. I gladly accepted, and taking various jobs around town - none of which really suited - I moved in. Now we saw each other even more - we realised that our feelings were even stronger. But it wasn't until two years after we'd first met that I finally told her the magic words. And I don't know that I would have, if I hadn't... run into myself.  
Myself, as I am now.  
The first indications I had that I was still in some way the Fierce Deity came while we were walking on the beach at Great Bay. A monster attacked us - fortunately, I was carrying my sword, and was able to drive it away. But - afterwards, Alena told me that I'd changed my appearance as I fought - my eyes had become how they are and were, whereas she'd known them as being blue... I had no choice but to tell her what I had been. Lucky I told her and not her father... (I'm sorry, Darris... for what I did...)   
It was at carnival night that the truth came out even further. I'd taken Alena up to the top of the Clock Tower - but while we were there, disaster struck. I know why it was, now. My spirit was still unstable, and my subconscious created the illusion of my darker side to fight so I could rebalance myself. Which wasn't much good then - when I saw the Fierce Deity smash a blast of lightning into Alena... I fought with the illusion, the ghost of what I had been - and eventually won. And thanks to that, I was finally able to free myself from the mask I had been wearing for twelve years._

_Perhaps that wasn't a good thing. I was careless enough to leave it where old Darris could find it. And he was - quite justifiably, I suppose, especially when I consider the influence he was under... - angry. Angry enough to force me out. I had nowhere to go - except back to Hyrule. When I decided to do so... Alena chose to come with me. She had more reasons than simply our feelings... Her father was just as angry at her for keeping secrets - and for him, the secret that I was who I am was big enough to drive a rift between them.  
It was on our way to Hyrule that Destiny began to show up again. For some reason, I was... jumping between worlds, between different timelines, between different things that could and have happened. I had no control over where I would jump to next - I was seeing things that I thought could only be impossible. But, I guess, impossible is what you make of it. And I don't really see much as impossible any more. I can't afford to.  
I struggled to find out the truth about what was happening to me. I even went so far as disguising myself - ha! - as the Fierce Deity I had been to infiltrate Hyrule Castle and search out the facts in its library. While I was there, I was thrown into a world where I was remembered as the Hero of Time, not a destroyer... and encountering my old ally Sheik, or at least Princess Zelda in that guise, I was told that I was more than a hero. For the first time, I was told that I was to be 'the Guardian of Time', but the words meant nothing to me._

_At least, they didn't then...  
Months wore on before I got any further towards encountering the truth. I was visited by... Farore herself. (I don't know why I still sound so overawed at that. Especially considering who I am.) She chose to speak to me by taking over Alena's body. She must have had reasons for not wanting to appear in a human form herself - and I'm beginning to guess what they were...  
After what happened to the last of the gods who chose to do so...  
Myself. Or - at least - my previous life. The original Fierce Deity.  
You see... as I said, two thousand years ago, the fourth of Hyrule's creators, who gave time to the worlds, chose to see what they were like from a mortal perspective - and fell in love. (I wonder if the object of his affections was anything like mine...) But his sisters weren't happy, and exiled him to live like a human. But he was still practically immortal, and outliving his love left him empty inside. He must have taken consolation on the battlefield, until it became a part of who he was.  
And now who I am. Somehow - he was killed, whether at someone else's hand... or his own. But, as an immortal and a god, he couldn't really die. Only be... set free of his physical form. That spirit released found a new home in a newborn child. Me.  
That was when I found out who I really am.   
More than human, more than a hero... but maybe, not quite a god. For all I know these powers are my birthright... I have no idea what they are and what they do. Why can't I..._

_Barely a day later, I was forced to confront my own power once again - to fight the enemy I had when I first saw them from inside. And that time - there was no going back. I finally accepted myself for what I am that day - and I can never return to the existence I left.  
(I miss you so much, 'Lena...)_

__- 


	2. Once More Unto The Breach

**Mindtrap**

Usual applies. I don't own Zelda, those wonderful people at Nintendo do. (One day... one day...) 

-- 

**_Chapter 2: Once More Unto The Breach_**

-- 

Link snapped his head round to look where the voice had come from. A woman's voice, he recognised, and a familiar one at that. _Who's... _He was quick to identify who had yelled at him, once he had looked around the throng in the market square.  
And it was one of the last people he had expected it to be. A parallel to an old friend, and in his home timelines the mother of his dearest companion. Someone whom he would never have thought would be so vehement in her hatred.  
He looked over towards her. "Impa?!"   
She pushed through the crowds. "Oh, do you remember my name, then? How about the names of the _rest_ of my family? The ones you destroyed, thirty years ago? My brother? My sisters? My father?"  
His mouth flickered open, then closed again. It would be futile to try to explain that in himself, he was barely twenty-four. Oni'kara had been the one to commit whatever terrible act it had been, unable to feel any love or anything but rage - but Oni Link was the one getting the blame. And not for the first time. In many of the worlds he had seen, memories of his previous life were - less than positive. Quickly, he thought. It was worth a try. "What about Alena?"  
Mixed, confused emotions flickered across Impa's features, and Link caught the resonance of the feelings in her mind. "What do you know of my daughter? Are you so determined to destroy us all?" she answered in bitter tones.  
"No! I don't... as far as I know, she's fine!"  
_That's only because you haven't got to her yet._ The verbal thought was so strong Link couldn't help hearing it, and internally winced. _  
I'd never hurt her!_ "That wasn't me..." he whispered to himself. "I'm not what you think..." 

But, deep in his heart, he knew it was a lie. Impa had called him a murderer - and he knew that was what he was. So many had fallen to the infinity-bladed sword he proudly carried - and even before his transformation, he could hardly have claimed his innocence. The price of his immortality was to always remember just who it was paying it.  
The Fierce Deity. A killer. A destroyer.  
Even as he thought it, a second impulse came hot on its heels. _You can claim you want peace - but inside, isn't war what you crave?_ "Shut up," he muttered inaudibly, and in a hurry walked away through the crowds. Most people shuffled away, nervously. Not that he blamed them. It wasn't as if he blended into the crowds now. Almost not looking where he was going, trusting his instincts rather than his sight and hearing, he headed east out of the square. 

It was quieter out here. Most of Clock Town's people had been in the market that day, giving Link a chance to recover from the fear he had felt slamming into him. _Not here. Not now. They have no reason to be scared, any more. But... can I help what I am?_ Silently, he shook his head, brushed the silver hair out of his eyes, and walked towards the old eastern gate.  
As he reached it, one sound caught his ear. A pleasant one, this time - laughter. Quickly, he glanced back the way he had come to see who it was - but as soon as he had heard it, he had recognised it exactly.  
This was another timeline, he told himself. _There's no reason for things to be quite how you remember. Don't get angry, jealous - fierce. It was bound to happen. But... why? And... how come... him? I didn't think he even existed! Not really... So... what does that mean?..._  
He paused for a moment, looking at the scene, an unwanted intruder.  
Unregarded, on the veranda rooftop of the Stock Pot Inn, Alena continued to laugh along with her companion. Placing an arm around his shoulder, she leant in to place a kiss on his cheek. His red, sparkling eyes lit up, and he returned the embrace.   
Despite himself, despite all he knew he had done in his home timeline, Link caught a faint smile creeping onto his lips. _Well, she's happy. That's the main thing. Only... does her father know... her boyfriend here is... Sheik? When I remember he had such a grudge against the shadow-folk... _He blinked._ Or maybe, this timeline, she's living with her mother.   
It's probably the best thing for her._

Still, it was best not to dwell on the past, he decided. Although it hurt him inside - she was gone from his life, and there was nothing he could do to change that. Not that it made the separation any easier. _I had to leave. It was destiny. I couldn't change it,_ he told himself over again. With one last regretful backwards glance, he continued on his way. 

- 

Meanwhile, Saria wandered through the back streets of Clock Town, in awe. She couldn't believe it. Who would have thought so many people existed in the whole world? The forest... well, there had been only about fifty Kokiri in the village she had known all her life. She'd met one or two more during her time at her own Link's side. But she'd met that many people in just her first few seconds. And all the adults... she felt about as big as a fairy.  
"Some place, huh, Riva?" she whispered to her flying guardian. The fairy gave a tinkling, nervous reply. "Oh, come on. You don't believe that. Do you? I mean, if something was going to happen to me, it would've already, right? Right?" 

Suddenly, she paused, hearing something. She looked around. "Did you catch that?"  
"Catch what?" Riva whispered, in a thin musical voice.  
"I could hear someone talking. I think... I think it was an _old lady... _no,_ two..._" Saria's voice was full of surprise. To her, old people were strange, foreign creatures, coming from a forest where none ever grew beyond their early years. Kokiri could live for centuries, barring misfortune - but never aging.  
Yet - all around her - people changed with every passing day. And perhaps - she would have to change with it too. Outside the forest's confines, would she age... just as they did?  
One day... become like one of the old women she could hear? "They were there! Again!"  
"I didn't hear anything... hang on! Hey, Saria! I'm picking them up... Sounds like the voices are coming from - inside you! But that's... stupid..."  
They concentrated, trying to hear more closely what the voices said. None of which made much sense.  
"_How much longer have we got to stay in this kid's..._"  
"_Until we can once again see the dark..._"  
"_But the - _" the next word was one Saria understood even less than the rest - "_has already cleared off! We've missed our chance!_"  
"_Hoo, hoo. Hardly... He'll come back_, _the darkness fresh within him. Then we'll have our chance._" 

The voices left them. Saria shook her head. "That was... weird..."  
"You're telling me. But... do you think they were talking about... him?"  
"What... you mean... the... er, Link? I don't know. Don't have a clue." 

- 

He reached out over the canyon's rocky face, and pulled himself up. Technically, Link guessed it would be easier to levitate up to the cliff top, one of the few powers he had been able to master - but it wouldn't be as much fun. Besides, he wasn't quite sure he trusted himself to use his dark powers correctly. The climb up Ikana Canyon was a simple enough one for him, although more than once he ran out of handholds and was forced to shove his dagger into the rocks. This was one of those times where his trademark sword would be no use, he mused.  
Probably, as the Guardian of Time, he shouldn't have been bothering with such frivolous pursuits as a spot of rock climbing. But after all, he had forever to kill. _Shoot. Bad choice of words there... _he thought, and paused a minute, regaining his composure. He sighed, and continued on his path upwards, following a silent compass in his mind. 

The top of the canyon was not how he remembered it. When he had been here last, it had been dead and empty, a waste filled with mummies and crows, circling for any meagre scraps of food - which would have included the boy he had been if he had not kept his eyes open. But now - he saw more proof of just how far he was from home.   
Ikana was green again. The thriving civilisation that had long ago existed here in his own timeline - still did. A lump formed in Link's throat as he looked around the vista, shining diamond eyes committing every detail to memory.  
Strange - for some reason, this felt like home. He'd been _here_ before - this thriving valley, not the barren Ikana he knew. Déja vu battered his senses for a moment, but he recovered quickly. _No. You haven't been here before, Link. Have you, Oni?_ For a split second, he flinched at the unconscious use of his other name, before shaking the feeling off. But that was it, he was sure. The part of him that was more than a human had seen this...  
_Can't spend too long down memory lane. I've got something to do here._

It was easy enough to see where trouble lay. In this Ikana valley, a village clustered on the mountainside beyond the castle. Usually, it would have been a peaceful enough scene. But not today.  
It was under attack. The shadow of a monster, winged and taloned, fell across the slope. As Link watched, a burst of flame shot from its mouth and struck one of the wooden houses. Its inhabitants rushed out to safety - or what they thought would be safe. Instead, the flying serpent dived down towards its prey, snatching the running figures from the ground.  
_You have to stop this! Who knows what havoc this could cause... It's not exactly the Evil King, but this is such a peaceful country - they're not going to stand a chance! _he thought. But deep inside something else whispered, _It's a battle. It's why you're here. Don't rationalise it._

Each pace Link took towards the battle, each beat of his heart, brought an extra surge of power into his mind and body.  
_This is why you were born, reborn, recreated... You're a warrior, Link, Oni'kara - and your chance is coming...  
_As he held onto his sword, flashes of blue light began to flicker along the blades, man and weapon becoming one - as indeed, they always were. Link felt the dark currents beginning to flow, the charges of energy coursing through every vein.  
_It's time._

The Fierce Deity began to run onwards, helix blades carving the air into slivers of light. Fighting on instinct, he leapt towards his adversary and smashed his sword down towards the creature's back. Writhing around, it threw him to the floor - but a lightning disc flew straight for its eyes as Link backflipped away from its lashing claws and the plumes of fire it spat wildly.  
"You'll have to do better than that, if you think you're going to get away with this..." he whispered. Picking up on shards of intention, he vaulted away from the dragon's charges and slashed deep into its underbelly. In agony, it threw its head back.  
One final blow, one last stroke of the sword, and the dragon collapsed to the floor, crumbling into dust that would blow away across the valley floor. The Ikana river would be the last step in quenching its fire.  
But as for Link - it would take more than that to calm the fire that now raged within him. The battle had barely been a warmup. He shoved his sword roughly into the ground, and closed his blazing eyes as he hung onto its handle. The deep, ragged breaths he drew were not a sign of any physical exhaustion - but of a deeper mental conflict. It would be so easy, so easy, he thought, to just let his dark side take over again - but he knew he could not afford to. Eventually, he sighed and looked around. Two of the villagers were coming nervously towards him. It was probably best he left. Before they became his next victims.   
He shook his head and walked away, yanking his sword out of the floor and slinging it away over his shoulder as he went. At least, away from the battlefield the recent memory of what he had done would not be around him to hint at the darkness. Fate held no silent call in his mind any longer, now his battle was done. For the moment, his time was his own - though he had nothing to do with it.   


One thing, he knew for sure.  
_I'm not needed here._ He began to head back to Clock Town on foot, but paused.   
_It's worth a try. Will this work?... How do I... _Silently, he closed his eyes and focused. _The clock tower... it's there in my mind... All I have to do... Concentrate..._  
He looked around again. It looked like he would have to do this the old way. Link picked his silver ocarina out and played the same song of soaring he had used as a child. This time, it worked, and an ethereal wind whipped him away. 

The scenery fixed and formed once more. He'd arrived behind the tower - and fortunately, no-one had seen him.   
_I shouldn't have to hide! _he thought, angrily. _I'm what I am - and if anyone else has a problem with it, well, it's their problem...  
_He walked away northwards into the park, and unconsciously towards his old home while he had lived in Termina._  
_

- 

At the foot of the slide, Saria clasped her head in shock. "Who's that?" she whispered to Riva.  
"It's me. You know? Same fairy you've known all your life?"  
"No... it's not you, Ri! Those voices... they're back... yeaarh!" she yelled, catching the attention of more than one passer-by. She collapsed to her knees, in a halo of violet light. "I don't know who you are... just... leave me alone!"  
"_No worries, kid... he's back..._"  
"_We don't need to hitch a lift in here any more..._" 

The violet halo exploded away from Saria, forming into two figures.  
Figures on broomsticks. 

Link watched on. Those two... he'd had more than enough trouble off them...  
Narrowing his eyes, he began to focus. The blue energy that usually cascaded from his sword began to form a brilliant sphere between his hands. "What are you... witches... doing with Saria? Get away from her... she's none of your concern!"  
One of the pair flew over. "Ohoh, _lalandin - _" Link didn't recognise what he presumed was a Gerudo word, but his subconscious kicked in with a translation, _night warrior_ - "it's not her we're after. It's you."  
He readied himself to throw the fireball in the witch's face. "You should know better than that..."  
"No, _lalandin_." The second broomstick flew over. 

"We're here to help you," Kotake smiled. 

-- 

A/N: Aw, thanks for the support, everyone. 

To Hello: You asked about the screenshots on my website (members.aol.com/dragonheart360)? They're a composite of rom screenshots, images drawn in Windows Paint, and a scanned in Gameboy, layered and messed around with in Paintshop Pro. I've been doing some more, but they're not there yet. OK? I'd have emailed you, but you never left your address...  
To Maniac Mosli: Patience! You'll see what's happening with Link and the Triforce soon enough...  
To FadeToBlackened007: Thanks for the suggestion on FD's musical choices...  
To Everyone Else: Thankyouthankyouthankyou! Keep reading... I'm trying to write as fast as I can, honest! 


	3. A Touch of Destiny

**Mindtrap**

Usual applies. I don't own Zelda, those wonderful people at Nintendo do. (One day... one day...).

**_Chapter 1: A Touch of Destiny_**

Two figures paced through the Lost Woods. Although the pair seemed at ease in each other's company, there could not have been a greater contrast between the two. One was a child in green, apparently around ten years old, her emerald-hued hair tucked neatly behind her sharp ears. She virtually ran to keep up with her companion, and strained her neck to look up nearly three feet to his eyeline. He looked back down at her, with almost a brother's regard. It was hard to read the expression on his stern face, slashed with painted marks of red and blue - and his snow-white, empty eyes betrayed none of his true feelings. Only the tone of his voice revealed his emotions - sadness and pride combined in his words.

"...I finally accepted myself for what I am that day - and I can never return to the existence I left. You see, Saria, destiny's a hard thing to cope with. But sometimes - there are times you simply have to do so. I can't help what I am... and you can't help it, either. It wasn't your fault you were chosen to be the forest's champion..."  
"How did you know that? You only just came here! You said it yourself! I didn't tell you - so how..."

Link stopped in his tracks as the Kokiri girl spoke. _I'm doing it again, aren't I? _he thought. _Picking up what she's thinking. I've got to learn more control - but how do I shut my mind? _He sighed. "I could see the thoughts in your mind. I didn't mean to pick them out - but like I just said, I don't know how to control these powers I've been given. I could read them just like I can hear you talking to me now." He shook his head. The visions he had caught in the front of Saria's mind had been another sign just how unfamiliar the world he was in now was. Though her world had a Hero of Time, just as he had been in his own timeline - there, the resemblances ended. And her role was one of the things that had changed the most, as the seven sages - here, seven champions - had fought alongside his own counterpart in battle with Ganondorf. None of them had been sent back in time the seven years he had, either. This Saria had been virtually excluded from the peaceful Kokiri community following her confrontation. They had no love for the warrior she had become.

_Just like me. Cut off from our own worlds. That's fate for you._

Slowly, he became aware of Saria's gaze fixed on him. "You... read my mind?" she whispered, in a mixture of terror and excitement. "How could you... you really are a... a..." Her voice trailed off.  
"I know." Unseen by his friend - or counterpart of a friend - Link looked aside, unable to meet her eager gaze. "A god." He gave a rueful laugh. "Sounds strange, doesn't it? I'm still not used to it, myself."  
"But if you are a - uh - the - a -" Saria stuttered, in awe. _Should I really be here, talking to this... Fierce Deity?_  
Link picked up the sharp, nervous twitches that flitted like butterflies across the Kokiri's mind. "I've been human for twenty-four years, so - stop panicking. I am _not_ going to suddenly - " and his voice gained an ironic edge - " 'smite thee with my holy wrath', or whatever I'm supposed to do. Don't ask me. I'm on _your_ side here. You know... back in my world, you were my best friend..." His voice softened and almost imperceptibly cracked as he spoke. There were some memories there he could not face.  
That, he knew, was where the 'fierce' part of his name came from. For all he could hide behind a metaphorical mask of benevolence - he could not ignore that having worn a mask that no longer existed had led him to fall prey to the dark side of his own nature.

_Never again. I will never lose control... _he repeated inwardly, more as a prayer to unknown forces than a statement of fact.

Saria's voice interrupted his thoughts. "What's wrong?" she asked, quietly.  
He half-jumped, and looked back at her. _I can't say - it would break her heart... the forest's everything to her - to say I destroyed it?..._ "Uh... I was thinking about... people I used to know. Old friends."  
She paused before replying. "Oh. Do you mean... what was her name? Alena?"  
"Wh... Oh... yes."  
"You miss her, don't you." It was a fact, not a question.  
"Yes. Completely." _More than you can imagine. You've never known real romance. You know the love of the mind, not of the heart._ "But as I said - there's no way I can go back to my old home. I only wish I could..." The last was in a half-whisper. Saria knew enough to not pry any further. For a moment, child and warrior walked alongside each other in silence.

Eventually, they came into a clearing, where one tree stump stood alone. Link glanced straight at it for a second - where, as a child, in his world, he had drawn a picture. Here, it was blank and uncarved. He let out a quiet sigh of memory, before turning towards Saria. "This is where we have to say goodbye. I'm going on. I'm being called to Termina - the land that lies beyond this boundary. It's a whole different world to this - and it's where I must go."  
"Can't I..." Saria started, before pausing. "Would it count as leaving the woods?"  
"I'm sorry. It would. I can't take you with me. From what I can see in your mind - all that's happened to you," he began, and noticed a disappointed twitch across Saria's face. "I only wish I could. But I'd hate to be responsible for... anything that happened to you, if I did."  
She looked aside. "But you can do anything, can't you? If you're..."  
"I'm not omnipotent. Don't get that idea." He saw the tears brimming in her blue eyes, and crouched down to talk to her. "Listen. I know what it's like to be alone. But risking your life by following me wouldn't be worth it."  
"Better that than this!" she insisted. "Please - let me be the one to take that chance. 'sides, I've got Riva to look after me," she added, gesturing to the fairy who fluttered an anxious yellow around her head. "I won't be any trouble. I can handle myself - I'm the forest champion, remember?"  
Link caught himself laughing, despite it all. "I don't know. If any of the Kokiri can leave the forest, it's you. Okay, you've convinced me - but stay on guard at all times, right? And another thing - do you know the Minuet of the Forest?" She shook her head. "Here. I'll teach you. If you feel ill, anything - play it, and it should bring you back to your home."  
"It's not my home. Not any more."  
For a second, there was silence. He nodded. _I know what you feel like. I've been in that position, too..._ "Alright. Follow me. I'll take you there."

He only hoped that the Termina he would arrive at would be one where the moon was still in the sky. To let her come with him on his impossible mission - but to lead her into a destroyed world... it would be more than he could bear.  
After all, he'd already lead Alena away from her home, back when he was his old self...

A knocking at the door. "Hey, 'Lena. Can I come in?"  
Alena turned her attention away from looking out the window of her bedroom - hers only by default, really - and sighed. "Okay, Malon. Sure." Her friend - her only real friend in Hyrule, now... he'd gone... entered quietly and placed her hand on her shoulder. "Sorry I've not been much fun lately."  
"Don't worry about it. Really." Malon glanced down towards something Alena clutched tightly to her chest. "You're still thinking about him, aren't you?"  
As if she'd noticed it for the first time, Alena looked at what she was holding. A mask, in the shape of the old Link's face. The 'Hero's Mask', he'd called it, when he finally left her for his destiny. Now, it was the only thing she had left to remind her of him - not that she needed reminding. "Yeah, I am. I don't know. I'm just... worried about him, I guess."  
"Worried? I don't think you need to worry about Link..."  
"I know. It's silly. But... I miss him so much..."  
"Me too," whispered Malon. "Now, c'mon. Dinner's getting cold. And the men will have eaten it all before we do, if we don't hurry up..."  
A weak laugh met the last comment. "Coming now..."

Saria stepped back as Link faced an apparently blank stretch of wall. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate. In theory, he thought, he should be able to jump from one world to another as easily as breathing. He was the Guardian of Time, after all - and it was his duty, his destiny, to protect the myriad of different worlds that existed. And to do that, he needed to be able to move through the currents of time like a fish through a river's currents.  
But, for the moment, he was merely paddling. The only gateways between the worlds were ones he could find physically. He'd unconsciously opened the portals between Termina and Hyrule before he knew what he was - but now he was in command of his powers properly, he'd found himself having to think about how he did it.  
_Now how does this go? Ah, yes._  
Silently, he reached outwards and upwards, spreading his arms towards the cliff-face. A faint shimmering pulse of energy formed between his hands, and shot out. Where it struck the wall -  
the rocky surface vanished, leaving a corridor in its place. Link opened his eyes and looked back. "If you wish to follow me, this is your only chance. But I'll still warn you... And what are you planning on doing once you're out of the forest, then? If you've only left it to fight that one time..."  
"I'm still coming. It's my choice. Please. I'll find something..."  
He sighed. "Fine. But there's no turning back. Once we're through, I'm sealing the portal again. It's a one-way trip. Understand?"  
Saria nodded. "Why would I want to come back?" Link caught the flicker of anguish across her mind, and returned her nod. With barely another word, he walked onwards into the portal, trusting instincts he could not name to lead him to his destination. A silent Saria, checking the Kokiri sword she carried across her back - a present from this world's own Link - followed, the eternal child dwarfed by the eternal warrior.

Eventually, they reached the end of the subterranean passageways that connected the two worlds. Though for Saria the journey had been a difficult one - for Link, it had been nothing more than a walk in the park. He'd frequently had to stop and check that he hadn't lost the seemingly-young girl who followed him. But she'd made it, just as he had when he'd been a child himself. _How long ago it seems... Thirteen years, but another lifetime... _  
"Is this... it?" Saria gasped as she ran to catch up. "Are we there?"  
"Yes. You see those doors there? Go through there, and you'll find yourself in Clock Town - I hope. If you want to go on ahead... just be careful..." He could feel the excitement leaping off her in waves as she headed off, and smiled. Now he was in Termina itself, he could begin to tell that it wasn't a dead world he'd come to. It was real and alive. The sort of world most of him liked - if not all...  
Unregarded, he focused his energy and closed the passage between the worlds, before pulling the heavy doors in the tower into place. No-one else would be able to enter Hyrule by that route. No mistake like that of Majora and the Skull Kid would occur if he had anything to do with it. He'd never quite been certain how Skull Kid and the fairies had made their own ways between the different lands - but if he could help it, they wouldn't use that route.   
His job done, Link turned round to follow Saria this time and head out into Clock Town itself.

The ancient, carved wood doors were still ajar, and he could see the townspeople through the gap between them. He could imagine few more welcoming sights than what he'd glimpsed there. Ducking slightly, he pushed the doors wide open and walked out.

Immediately, he felt something was wrong. Every head snapped round to look at him, a simmering rage hidden in apparently innocent stares. The pulsing of the townsfolk's emotions changed rapidly from a calm, easy feeling to one of a hatred he could not understand.  
_What have I... why do they..._  
But Link could begin to guess only too well. They didn't fear him - but his forebear, his past existence. The people of this Termina at least had a grievance against the original Fierce Deity - and that passed on to his new life.  
He tried to steel himself against the waves of fear he could sense, cutting himself off from his surroundings as best he could.

Voices and murmurs began to whisper around him.  
"Why's he back..."  
"What's..."  
But one shout broke through the ripples of sound and feeling.  
"Murderer! Demon!"

_Author's Notes:_ Here we go again!... I can't believe this series has got up to a threequel. If you haven't read the other two parts, I hope I'm not losing you here. (But if you have - thank you!) Sorry it's been so long in the making. Ack! Homework! No excuse, I know.  
Anyway... All I can say is, 'please review'. Flame me if you must - they'll be great for my pet Dodongo's dinner. But - anything! I'll be _sooooo_ happy if you do... And thank you if you've reviewed any of my other fics and poems.


	4. Into The Labyrinth

**MindTrap**

_(Usual applies. I shouldn't have to say this - but I. Don't. Own. Zelda. OK? Heck, I don't even own a 'cube. Damn Nintendo Europe! May 3rd... why oh why do we have to wait three more months... grumble...)_

-- 

**_Chapter 3: Into the Labyrinth_**

-- 

"You, help me?" Link glared at the hovering Twinrova witches. "Don't make me laugh. What do you have that I need? Why would you want to..."  
Koume circled round to him. "It's not what we need off you... it's what you need off us. Although we do have a request of you, lalandin, Fierce Deity..." Link grumbled under his breath at their obvious attempts to sneak up to him. He could see the trickery floating in their minds. And he was not about to trust them.  
"I don't need your help. Understand?"  
He began to move away, but the pair crossed over in front of him. "Oh, yes, you do... We know all about the darkness. Which is something you seem a little... less than in touch with? Your powers are those we can only dream of. It's such a shame, to see them going to waste..." The words were matched with a disconcerting smile. "So. We help you reach your potential, lalandin - and in return, we have only one thing to ask you."  
_That's more like it_. "And what would that be?"  
"We've watched you, ever since you arrived in our world. There's legends about you, you know..." _You're stating the obvious. _One thing was clear, though. These witches originated in Saria's timeline, not his own. Yet his past existence must have had repercussions even there. "You have the power to open a gateway into any world, don't you?"  
Slowly, Link nodded, not immediately certain why they were asking. "If I can find the correct place to open the portal, yes. What's it to you, then?"  
"We want you to open one for us. Into the world of our king."  
Immediately, Link understood. "Never! Don't think I'd ever help you bring Ganon back to power..."  
"You surprise us, lalandin." And it was true - he saw the shadows of shock faint in Kotake's mind, though Koume seemed a little less fazed. "You two have so much in common... both of you hold the powers of darkness dear."  
"I may use the darkness, but I serve the light," Link snapped. "I'm nothing like you think. Go away!" He flung the fireball he held through the middle of the two witches, who scattered away from it. Marching away, Link cast one quick look back at them. "If the price to pay for knowledge I could learn on my own is releasing my worst enemy - then don't think I'll pay it." Before the witches could catch up again, he was gone. 

"So much for that idea, Koume."  
"It was worth a try..."  
"Yes, try to trick the good guy? He thinks he's the hero of time!"  
Koume shuddered. "Don't mention that name. But... there's always plan B..."  
Kotake's face creased into an eerie grin, and she began to cackle. "Oohoo. Plan B." She paused. "What was plan B again?"  
"You know it!"  
"No, I don't!" 

Unnoticed by the bickering hags, Saria made a run for it. One last phrase of theirs caught her ears.   
"So... plan B... we don't need to convince him, after all? Just... let him convince himself?" 

- 

_That pair of... How could they even think I would help them?_ Link thought, walking out of town. The guards at the gates only gave him a passing, nervous glance as he strode past with the intention of putting distance between himself and the witches. He had originally planned on returning to Hyrule, the way he had come in - but now, after that reminder of his past, he had no such plan.   
_Still, no worry. That's not the only gateway, after all...  
Now. Let's see..._  
Under his breath, he hummed a snatch of the Song of Time as he planned his route. There was, he had found, another way through to his first home. Snowhead hid a subterranean passage which would, he believed, connect to a similar one on Death Mountain. For a fleeting second, the idea of the volcano's crater filled him with a feeling of apprehension which he could not place.   
_Strange... but why should it? It's just... is this another flashback? Deja vu? If only I knew..._

He wandered onwards. The sun slowly set over the western ocean, sending shots of crimson fire across the sky. Familiar constellations began to sparkle into the heavens. No matter what else changed between the worlds, the stars never did. The patterns were the same in Termina as Hyrule, or any other land he had visited. In the north, the Serpent coiled her way through the blackness, while a southern Hunter stood ready for battle. On his way up the mountain, he paused to watch as a faint curtain of green, red and blue shimmered overhead. The aurora in Termina was far more brilliant than the ones he had seen in Hyrule. It was probably a question of latitude, but no matter. Perhaps one day, in the far distant future, he would tire of the spectacle - but not yet. Something was wrong, here, though - the moon hung, a glowing globe, in the midst of the lights. He smiled, lying down in the shade of a tall tree to watch.   
_This is a lucky world... it's never faced the madness mine has. Except... that which I caused... No. It wasn't me.  
(Yes. It was.)  
_Angry at himself, Link closed his eyes and shook his head. He tried to relax and calm his thoughts again. Eventually, he succeeded, and slowly found himself falling asleep. His immortal's body required few of the things he would have thought necessary for life - air, food, water, sleep - but his mind, having been that of a human so long, clung to its old habits. And the warm touch of unconsciousness beckoned.   
Unknowing, the Fierce Deity dreamed on. 

- 

"They said he came this way..."  
"Were the guards sure it was him?"  
Koume rolled her eyes. "Let me think. How many other people do you know who are, oh, nearly eight foot tall, white hair, black armour..."  
"Stop rubbing it in! Sheesh... I was just checking. Enough already." They paused. "He's over there. Let's go." 

The two broomsticks hovered overhead, and the Twinrova witches watched the movements of a sleeping deity. As they looked on, Link rolled over, stretching out his arm as if swinging a sword. They backed off, quickly.   
"Has he spotted us?"  
"He's asleep. How would he know we're here?"  
Kotake shrugged. "Just a thought. And you really think this will work?"  
"Better than your little plan to sweet talk him did, anyway! No... the unconscious mind is always open to deception, even if the conscious isn't." Koume laughed. "Remember Nabooru?"  
Her sister paused. "We're going to turn him into an Iron Knuckle?"  
"Hardly! Try and get that sort of spell onto him... It'll never work. But... methinks that our sleeping friend has less armour in his mind than on his body. Work with me here!" She cackled. Swinging her wand around, she locked the slumbering Link in a beam of light. Kotake joined in, grumbling. Where the energy blasts met, he hovered gently. A faint haze began to surround him. In it, faint but distinct pictures could be made out. Koume grinned. "So that's what a god dreams of... That's the princess, isn't it? Oh... hee hee... Lalandin, I had no idea..."  
Kotake glared at her sister. "What are you laughing at?"  
She quickly quieted down, playing innocent. "Nothing... nothing... I'm just thinking - our Fierce Deity has a human side still. He's got his flaws." 

For a second, they looked on in silence. Eventually, Koume tapped her twin on the shoulder.  
"What is it? I was just..." the witch complained.  
"He never knew his family, did he? No - ooh, hoo! Oh... I remember them, all right. Better than he does. Saw them fleeing their village in the war..."  
"And you never told me? Sister, I'm surprised! But, anyway - from what I know, lalandin considers the three goddesses his sisters..."  
"Ohoh. He does, does he? Well... You've given me an idea." She squinted, and twitched her wand. The random and chaotic images flitting around began to condense and clear. "Let's see what happens if his suspicions are confirmed..."  
She began to whisper in ancient Gerudo words.  
Link's eyes opened. But their glow was faded. He saw nothing. 

- 

Slowly, he stirred. Immediately, he began to sense something was wrong. For a start, wherever he was lying was... comfortable. It felt like a bed.   
Link blinked awake. Yes. That was right. Someone's bed. But how? When he'd fallen asleep under a tree? _This has got to be a dream_, he thought straight away. But that too had its problems. Since his final transformation, he had never dreamt, on those rare occasions that he slept - or at least, he had no memory of dreaming. And what sort of a dream started out from asleep, anyway?  
So. That left one obvious option. This was real. 

He glanced around his surroundings as he pulled himself up to sitting. It didn't look like anyone's home he knew. But at the same time - it looked like his own. The best he could describe it would be as an adult's version of his child's treehouse. One window was half open, a shutter left ajar. A number of hangings ornamented the walls, as well as a collection of different masks and weapons - some of which he'd known and used, he thought, picking out a Mask of Truth and a Mirror Shield.   
_But it isn't mine. So. Who's behind this?_

A quiet knocking sound came at the door. Link looked over. "Who's that?" he called.  
"You're awake? That's good..." It pushed open, and somebody entered. The intruder was a girl, around... he couldn't guess her age. Apparently quite young, but with the same timeless and ageless quality he'd seen in his own reflection. "I was worried sick about you, Oni'kara."  
He focused on his visitor. "How did you..." But something was knocking in his mind, shouting to be noticed. She'd just called him... who else did...  
Her vivid leaf-green eyes grew wide. "What do you mean, 'how did I...'"  
"...Know my name?" _One of them, anyway._ "Who are you?"  
She squinted. "You mean you don't recognise me?" The girl sighed, a hint of a weary alarm in her tones. "It's me, Oni'kara. Your sister? Farore?"  
Link shook his head wildly. "You're..." Impossible was no longer the word. "... the goddess?"  
Farore only laughed. "Goddess? Me? Do I look like one to you?" 

"I wouldn't know!" He put a hand to his head - noticing as he did so that his usual armour and clothing was gone.Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the silver and black metal piled carefully against a wall. _What's going on? _"What am I doing here? Where is this?"  
"Found you out cold in the woods. It looked like you'd been poisoned or something... I'd have said a shadow serpent bit you, but I wouldn't have thought it would have been any threat to you..." Link winced inside, invisibly, remembering what the serpent Farore was referring to was like. "And where this _is_? It's your _home!_ How can you... not remember?..." She looked at her feet. "The poison must have made you forgetful. That's the only way. But it's odd... I never knew it do that before..." Farore sighed. "I don't know. Goddesses - ha! That's a good one. I think you should get some more sleep. I'll see you again in a bit. Okay?"  
With that, she left, leaving Link as confused as before. More so. Farore's attempts at explanations had led him deeper into puzzlement. Not one of the deities, but she used the names for both her and himself and claimed him as her brother... Not forest, castle or ranch, yet this was apparently his home... Found in the woods, when he had been climbing a mountain...  
He knew one thing. He didn't feel like a shadow-serpent had bit him. No, in himself he felt too well for that. Was Farore lying? Why would she be trying to fool him?  
_Who is she, anyway?_

He slowly pushed aside the bedclothes and stood up. As he did, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirrored shield hung on the wall. Instantly, Link rushed over and peered at his own features.  
He was no stranger to seeing his face changed from what he would have thought it would be.  
But it was still a shock. After believing himself to be the Fierce Deity for an eternity - the face he saw gazing back was nearly as much that of the Hero of Time. A mortal human.   
No blue or red markings highlighted his features now. Link licked a finger and rubbed under one of his eyes to see what was happening, but nothing was. His eyes, too... White? Yes. Still, as was his hair. But no longer the iridescent diamond glow. Instead, he could clearly see faint flecks of blues and greys in an iris, and the pupil was sharp and black. Overall, almost perfectly normal, if unusually coloured.  
_But not so normal if you're supposed to be... what I am..._ he thought. 

But... was that important? In some ways, wasn't that what he'd always wanted - to belong to somewhere? And Farore seemed to be giving him that chance... why shouldn't he take it?  
He smiled, and prepared to start a new life. He didn't know how long it would all last - but he'd take it while he could. 

- 

Days rolled on, and slowly Link found himself settling into the rhythms of life in his new - or, depending on who you asked, old - home. The community he had found himself in was as tight knit as the Kokiri village he had known - but this time, he was part of it. He had a family here, who saw him as one of them - three sisters and a father. So much of his past life seemed to echo strangely, but all distorted and changed. He had seen pictographs of what one of his so-called sisters - hardly surprisingly, Nayru - told him was his childhood. And they were scenes from his past. No, more like scenes from Oni's past - the boy in the photos had the same platinum hair and silver eyes as he now had. Together with Farore, peering in on their parents - the moment he had first met Zelda. Playing music in a paddock, while a pony nudged at his side. What else could that be, other than the day he had first seen Epona and visited what would become his home?  
Or was it that _those_ were the false memories? Which life _was_ it he had lead? 

It all seemed so natural to live this way, now. The titles of Fierce Deity, of Guardian of Time, seemed to fade into insignificance. What did they mean, when he was no longer free to take up that role? Could he be the Guardian, when he could no longer travel through times; call himself Fierce when he was no longer the Deity? 

It almost seemed at times that Link of Hyrule had never existed, nor Kaelon, nor Lord Oni'kara - all the personalities of his past were gone.  
Sometimes, he caught himself calling himself just Oni of Lakeside, and not remembering where he had first taken the name from. The name Link was no longer his own.  
The people he had known were no more than just names, now. Saria, Zelda, Malon, Alena... Ganondorf, Kafei, Camren, Talon... he could no longer form a clear picture of any of them, as he struggled to catch hold of his memory. He couldn't even _visualise_ anyone like that, a normal mortal human, when all around him were people who matched his own physical condition. To the Hylians, Sheikah and Gerudo, to all the human races he knew, his physical form was that of a demigod, at least. Around here, it was just a normal person's.  
It wasn't that he truly remembered the facts he was assured were his past, those were just words still. But, without any reference, he could hardly hold on to the world he had known... 

- 

The witches watched his dreams, impatiently. Their plans were working. A little too well. "It strikes me he's a little too... happy here, sister... This really does not help us!"  
"I was thinking that, too. What say we try to use lalandin's... darker instincts?"  
The sisters cackled. Kotake twitched her wand. "This one's mine..." 

- 

Link began to awake slowly, stretched, and shivered slightly. His back ached for some reason. Almost instinctively, he rolled over, trying to pull the sheets back into place.   
It was only then he realised. The reason he was so cold and uncomfortable...  
His eyes opened, and he looked around. The reason he was so cold and uncomfortable was the fact he was sleeping in his armour in the open. Under some tree. Things became familiar. "Nayru... Farore... what's..." But they were not there to listen. Not as physical beings like he was. He shook his head, feeling the weight of his usual headgear touching his back. _Did I just dream... three whole months? But it was so real... Awakening is hard, sometimes... when I think back to the child I was, learning of his heritage... wasn't that just the same?  
No. Not really. I mean, I'm just as much one as the other, as much Oni'kara as Link, right? ...Or am I?_

He got to his feet, checked his weapons, and began to walk on almost aimlessly. After his dream, it was difficult to focus any more. His first priority, he guessed, would be to get through the passage to Hyrule, as that had been his original goal - but where to go after that, he still had no idea. For all he had complained too often of his destiny, Link felt lost not knowing what it was. But all the same, he couldn't really stay there, he decided. 

As he walked on, the mountain valley was peaceful. The hillsides were wooded - more trees were standing proud on Snowhead's sides than he remembered. It was almost like he was in the forests of his first childhood, before they had been destroyed by either Ganondorf's minions - or his own bitter rage at the past. But it was done now. Somehow, he couldn't stay in that mood long in this place. Smiling faintly, he picked up his ocarina and played along to a tune in his mind. His warrior's nature, fierce by definition, was softened for the time.  
For once, he felt like just enjoying the moment. 

Suddenly, the quiet was ruptured by a scream. He snapped out of his reverie, and looked for the source. It sounded like someone was in trouble.  
More than that, he thought he recognised the voice.  
Zelda or Alena. 

-- 

A/N: Ooh... I know I'm soooo evil with cliffhangers... ;p  
'Thank you's to everyone who's reviewed. 


	5. Knight in Shining Armour?

**MindTrap**

_(Oh, come on. I really don't need to state the obvious here, do I?)_

-- 

**_Chapter 4 - Knight in Shining Armour?_**

-- 

Almost unconsciously, Link grabbed for his sword and began to run towards the source of the sound. Inside, he nearly smiled. _I can't stop being the hero so easily, can I?_ For all he knew, it was fate that whoever it was would die in this attack... But as he hadn't felt anything holding him back inside, he couldn't let them go. Not now. Not here. He sprinted onwards, lightning flowing down the blade he carried. 

The sounds of fighting became louder. The air was heavy with the feel of magical charges as Link arrived on the scene. He looked around. Where was she?  
Quickly, he spotted who was fighting what. A pack of white Wolfos had set on a solitary figure, who was trying to fend them off with a long staff with a gem set at the end. As he watched, a crimson bolt shot from its tip, much as from the blades of his sword.  
The weapon was not what interested him, though.  
Whoever it was, trying to hold her own - she did not appear to be either of his original suspects. Yet as she let out a furious yell, he still recognised the voice, and couldn't sit back. Instinctively, he fired an energy blast of his own into the middle of the wolf pack. Some of them looked around, and headed towards him. The girl spared him a quick, surprised glance, before continuing her own fight.  
"Try and aim for their tails!" Link yelled across at her, as he threw one of the wolves aside easily.  
"Thanks for the advice..." she called back, a sarcastic yet grateful sound in her tones. Despite the way she spoke, she picked up on the hint and quickly drove her remaining adversaries away. Exhausted, she walked slowly over to Link as he smashed the final wolf into the floor. "I could have handled them myself, you know..." she grinned.  
"No, you couldn't," he remarked, looking her up and down in some confusion. She resembled Alena and Zelda, true - but only in the same way his shadow-self in the water temple had resembled the hero he had been. Raven haired, ruby eyed, she was a complete dark mirror of who he knew. A Sheikah, he guessed. "You looked like you were in trouble."  
"Heh. You didn't give me a chance. Still, thanks, anyway. Whoever you are..."  
_She doesn't know who I am... perhaps that's a relief._ "Oh. My name's Oni Link." Inwardly, he jumped, as he realised what he had just said. Usually, he made a point of going by his original name. _Why did I just switch? Unless that dream's really rubbed off..._ "Most people call me Link for short," he corrected himself.   
"Fine. Link. Mine's Elianne," she replied, before pausing. "Hang on. I think... I've heard... no! You're not...!" Elianne looked at him, admiration sparkling in her eyes. He began to guess what was coming, the shock and fear that almost always followed the revelation of his identity, but she surprised him. "You're everything I'd have expected of you, you know... incredible to think I'd meet you here. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure you existed. But... you told me yourself, didn't you?"  
"I - what? I only told you my name!_" And what I said of it shouldn't have given me away..._  
"Your name... of course!" Smiling, she finished her speech and gave him cause for a yet greater surprise.   
One of the powers he had frequently cause to call on was the ability to understand any language put to him. But until hearing the words, any tongue would mean nothing. He had never heard the phrase that the Sheikah girl spoke until that moment. Yet in that split second, he could hear two meanings. Both what sounded like his own name, at least in part - and the title he had earned. _Link-Aderan. Fierce Deity. What... what does that mean... am I, was I... my family, when I was born, did they call me 'fierce' then on purpose?_

- 

"Aww. So sweet. Did you mean to let him in on that little secret?"  
"No! His mind let that out itself... Don't blame me that you lost control of the spell! I'd say get back to the topic, here!"  
"_I_ lost control?"  
The witches began to worry. If they were losing their grasp on Link's mind - what would happen?  
"Bother this. Let's go for something he knows all about..." 

- 

Elianne didn't pause to let him consider the impact of her statement. Instead, she grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away. For once, someone wasn't frightened by him. "I can only say... it's a good job I've found you. I was looking for someone to help us, and..."  
He blinked. "Why?"  
"Come with me... please... Hurry!" She ran onwards through a cave pathway.   
Ducking the low ceiling, Link chased after her. "Elianne! What's the rush?"  
"Please! You'll see when you get there! My home... it's absolute chaos... someone's attacking us, it's burning to the ground... we can't stop it. But you... you can, can't you?" 

_Absolute chaos. _The words struck home in Link's mind.  
He knew what Elianne's home would look like when he arrived.  
He'd been there. Done that. He'd been the destroyer in the Sheikah village once.  
  
His fears were justified as he came through the other end of the passageway. The village he could see in the ruddy morning light was familiar as a place he had visited in Hyrule. _Of course_, he thought. _That was the gateway, it must have been like the one in the woods, left open - but I was sure that it would have brought me out in Death Mountain... Perhaps I don't know everything I thought I did.  
Perhaps I need some help after all.  
But not from... them..._

Link picked up pace, and dropped Elianne behind him. From here, he knew the way, and his homing senses were beginning to take over. Not that it mattered - his memories from ten years ago, when he had been destroyer not protector, had resurfaced.   
She hadn't been wrong with her description. It seemed he had arrived just in time. People were fleeing into the nearby woodlands and back the way he had come. A very few remained around, attempting to protect their home. One of them - Link paused - was Sheik. _He's real here, too? That's never Zelda... _His crimson eyes were glimmering with a repressed pain. Another of the fighters was an old man, a mage. His physical abilities may have been weak, but he was creating a wall of energy around those buildings that still stood. 

Not that it was doing much good. Not against the adversary Link could see there. The Sheikah may have called themselves the shadow people, but that was only a name when compared to their foe.  
_Destroyed... five years, six years ago real time... in the water temple, in another lifetime... why should he be here now?_  
_So much stronger, too... darkness beyond darkness. Even those powers I control mean nothing when I'm fighting my own shadow..._

Furiously, he sent a blaze of blue-white light over the head of the attacking Dark Link. "Over here!" he yelled, running in. "Your business is with me!"  
Yet even as he ran in, he could see something was different. Even as he had assumed his own powers... so had his shadow. And he had never had the true Link's light side to balance that. 

Red eyes, glittering with a brilliant fire, met a starry white gaze in return as Link virtually flew towards his opponent. Two swords with savage twisted blades met in a flare of blue and black energy. 

_You imposter... you shadow... you won't get away again! You thought you had survived, did you, last time? No way! Face me - Oni Link- if you dare!_

It was all too familiar for Link to fight someone or something so close to what he was - his own dark side. This was the third time he had been forced into such a battle - if 'forced' was the correct term this time around.   
But he had no time to worry about that. As Dark Link span his blade around, Link leapt into the air. For a second, he hung there, balancing on the wind as if suspended from an invisible wire. Seeing the surprise in the ruby-flame eyes, he smashed downwards and into his enemy.  
It was enough, this time. Yells turning into faint eddies of wind, Dark Link vanished. 

Slowly, Link settled down, taking a slow, deep breath to settle his mind. It took a while before he felt calm enough to go over to join the group of admiring Sheikah who watched. Sheik was shouting congratulations, and Elianne waved and cheered. The elder who was there clapped gently.  
"Link-Aderan, eh? Fierce Deity - what else! You showed that..."  
"You did it! Thank you... I can't believe it... But you're really..."  
"It was only my duty to help you," Link sighed, looking aside. "I could not stand by and let that..." _That monster. That shadow of what the past held... _"...destroy everything." 

The sage smiled and interrupted. "Hoho. It's nice to dream, child. Perhaps when you're older."  
Link's head snapped round. "What do you mean? I'm no child!"  
"You're only eight, Link, sonny... But it's nice to see a kid with such ambition..." 

With that, the old man left. Sheik, Elianne, and the rest of the group drifted away. 

Link's heart raced almost loudly enough to rattle his armour. He began to follow the old Sheikah, but like all his kind, the old man had vanished quickly. Too quickly even for a Fierce Deity to keep up with.  
_But he said I was just a kid... how? What does..._  
The enigmatic comments had him distracted easily. Not looking where he was going, his foot landed on a loose patch of mud and shale, which was dislodged under his weight. He skidded, cursing his own stupidity, fell, and landed on hands and knees by the side of a puddle. In his surprise, he caught himself calling out.   
The voice that escaped him was a young boy's.  
Just as the face reflected in the muddy water was. Silently, now, he touched the red mark by his eye. Not his more familiar warrior's markings, but a crudely painted copy which smudged slightly as his finger rubbed over it.  
With a start, he remembered being that age the first time, before he had ever had any idea of his true nature. When he believed himself to be a Kokiri rather than a Hylian, never mind a reborn god... 

- 

_16 years ago - Kokiri Forest_

- 

Two children play in a secluded grove. A mock battle with Deku Sticks as swords. But a deadly serious one for all that.  
"If we keep practicing your self-defence skills, Link, Mido won't have such an easy time picking on you, will he?"  
"Yeah... he'd better watch out!" Smiling, Link makes a thrust forwards. He knocks his opponent's stick from her hands. "Oh - sorry, Saria. Sure you know what you're doing?"  
"Uh. No. But it's worth a try." She picks the branch up again, and tries to attack. "You're a natural at this, you know?"  
"Thanks!" Link pauses. "Hang on. I've got an idea. If I'm doing this - better look the part..." Saria shakes her head as he runs off. In seconds, he's back.   
"What do you look like?" she asks, surprised.   
He sucks the berry juice from a finger. "I don't know - I just thought... it just seemed like the thing to do." The red and blue smears on his face have a strange appearance - comical, but at the same time apt - and frightening.   
Somehow, Saria doesn't want to laugh any more. "Come on. Let's stop this before anyone sees."  
"Why?"  
"I don't know, Link. It's just - not right." 

- 

_present day_

- 

_Took me three days to get all that stuff off - Mido thought it was hilarious... Funny, isn't it... I'd forgotten all about that day... How much of me knew, back then, what I was doing?_

He sat up and looked at himself. What he saw was a little boy playing at 'Fierce Deity'. The black metal had been replaced by wood-and-cloth pretend armour, and a wooden sword - not even the Kokiri blade he had used - replaced the fearsome double-helix weapon he knew. A white tunic remained underneath, in the style he had been accustomed to wearing in his first childhood.   
One last detail still struck him. His eyes... still not how he remembered, still those of a dreamer.  
_That has to mean something..._  
For a moment, he sat in silence, trying to think things through. Nothing made sense anymore. 

Suddenly, a shout broke his train of thought. "Link! What are you up to... oh, I told you to change out of all that..."  
He looked round, to see an unfamiliar woman hurrying towards him. "Who are you?" he asked, in a sharp, surprised tone.  
"Come on, young man. You can drop the 'FD' act with your mum, can't you?"  
Link nearly responded, but shut his mouth in time. The best thing, he decided, would be to play along. Perhaps then he could find out the truth of what was happening. "Uh - yeah. Okay. Sorry." Silently, he muttered to himself. "Drop the act? It's no act."  
"What was that?"  
"...Nothing... Mum."  
The words stuck in his throat. Never in his life - any of his lives - had he had cause to refer to anyone by that term. He had had a father, but never a mother. And this stranger could have been the mother he had never had. Dark-haired, with sparkling blue eyes, he guessed she was a Hylian rather than a Sheikah like the rest of the villagers. Still, he knew not to put too much trust in appearances, especially with how he appeared himself.  
She walked on as he paused. "Link, honey? What's the problem?"  
_The problem is I'm not your son. The problem is I don't belong here. I'm not a child. But I can't say that._ "It's nothing."  
"Looks like a pretty big nothing to me. Well, come along. Don't want to be late, do you?"  
"Late for what?"  
"Oh, you can't have forgotten what day it is? It's only your..." 

"Get him!" a voice bolted through her speech. Link looked around. Did they mean him? He quickly spotted the source of the cry. Two people with swords and ropes were making their way through the scenery quickly.  
"Who?"  
"Don't you know? The boss must have told you ten times! The white-haired kid. Yeah, him there!"  
There was no other option. He was their target for sure. As he had been only minutes or hours ago, Link could have coped with the threat easily. But not as he could see himself to be. These people would have come up to his eye level even if he had been at full strength. And as a child, he had no chance.  
He turned to sprint away, but the intruders were fast. Before his child's body could react to the pace of his immortal's instincts, they had him pinned to the floor.  
"Get away from him! That's my son!" his supposed mother yelled.  
"This kid? He's been tricking you? Sorry, lady. This ain't your son." A strong hand gripped Link's chin and forced his head upwards. He tried to break free, but it was no good. "He's a deceiver, this one. A demon."  
"I'm not a..." Link snapped.  
His captor half-grinned. "That's what your kind all say." Roughly, he grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him away. "You're comin' with me, Oni."  
Something was put over his mouth and nose.  
Link blacked out. 

-- 

A/N: (bashes head on desk) Must... stop... writing... cliffhangers...  
Yeah, and Sonic'll appear in Smash Bros. 3.  
(If only... I only just got the _original_ today... hee hee...) 

Thank you to everyone who's encouraging me on. I'm writing as fast as I can.  
_But._  
I will apologise in advance - the next chapter(s) may be delayed. I have a helluva lot on my plate at the moment, concerning my work for college. Unfortunately, that has to take priority over my fanfics (it shouldn't, but explain that to my teachers.) That and a _huuuuge_ writer's block. I swear on the Triforce that I am doing as much as I can, but... 


	6. Breakout

**MindTrap**

_(Sighing, Dragonheart states the usual in that she does not own Zelda and probably never will do.)_

-- 

**_Chapter 5: Breakout_**

-- 

Nayru watched, a silent voice in the heavens. Below her - if that was the correct word - Hyrule, Termina and all the worlds stretched out to infinity.  
Mortals' souls were visible to her view, as well as physical bodies. Not personalities as such, but patterns. Each exquisite in its own way. No matter whether the mind it represented was good or evil, the brilliant tapestry of colours shone through. Yet almost all had their clear imperfections, rips and tears in the weave - human errors and faults. 

Except one.  
Her brother's stood out from the myriad minds. No colours here, no shades. Just a pattern of black and white, light and dark. The darkness was dominant over the light, surrounding it on every side - yet by that, it made the pure sparkling whiteness all the more visible. A perfect, multi-dimensional symmetry and a flawless pattern.  
No - not quite. If she peered more closely towards Oni Link's heart - hidden deep inside the perfect forms were signs of an imperfect fusion. The threads of the immortal's spirit tangled and twisted around those of a simple human, a child who had been destined to die - no, had died. There, too, were the scars she and her sisters had inflicted themselves as they severed his bonds to the divine realms and tore his power away. The branding there would have gone unnoticed if she had not been looking for it - but slight as it was, that human presence within meant that he would never return to their realm on his own. His eternal exile would continue - even if the Fierce Deity whose life it now was to live was not the same as the one who they had chosen to force away.  
If she had had a physical form at that point, a tear would have escaped her eye at the thought.  
_We have wronged you, Oni'kara... if you ever... if you can ever forgive us..._

Even as she watched, something changed. Slight trembles and shocks ran through his mind-patterns. The fragile balance was being disturbed.  
Slowly but surely, the darkness was invading the light.  
_What... what is happening to you?..._

- 

Link stirred. When he came to, he was in a prison cell. It closely resembled the ones from the Gerudo fortress, except there was less light. There were no windows here, and only the flickering illumination of torches against the walls. At first glance, there was no way out._ No. Hang on. _He could see something. A gap above the doorway. _If I... _He stood up.  
Hitting his head on the ceiling.  
He swore loudly, but stopped as soon as he realised the implications. Smiling, he looked down at himself. _Back to - hah - normal... but what's normal, now, anyway?  
And what do they want with me? Why am I in here?_  
He waited for a while to see if anything happened, before starting to plan his escape. There wasn't room to swing his sword in here, but if he could just get his dagger between the stones, surely he could lever them out...  
Then he realised that was mortal thinking. Link began to focus, sensing for the boundaries between the worlds. If he could just find that they overlapped in this cell, he could break out that way... _Yes... ah, no. _The cell was sealed in as far into the dimensions as he could sense. _Must be in a mountainside, or something. Explains why it's so dark. Back to plan one._ He began to chip into the walls and bars of his prison. They were stronger than he had expected. It looked like it was going to take some time. 

Before he could restart his attack, the cell door opened with a creak. Link span round, weapon in hand. A Gerudo woman stood in the doorway. She looked familiar - and embarrassed. 

- 

"Why, you..."  
"I was such a looker, then, wasn't I?..."  
"Ha! I was always..."  
"Ssh! He can't know!" 

- 

"My apologies for this misunderstanding, lord Lalandin." That word again. "We were told to bring you here, but we had not realised... But my master wishes to see you. If you would please come with me..."  
Link narrowed his eyes, not trusting her one bit. "Who is your 'master', then?"  
"Why, the King Ganondorf, of course. He was very anxious to meet you again. He asked me to send his apologies over what happened - I had no idea that you two were friends when he asked us to bring you here..."  
"Friends? Never!" Link half-spat. "What do you mean?"  
The Gerudo shook her head. "But I thought... With what you've done for him... Please. My lord, if you would..."  
Grudgingly, he nodded. If he was to meet his old enemy, he would have the advantage easily... whatever he was doing here. Surely, this was not the timeline he had so recently been in.  
_And if it is... what does that mean?_  
And if, for whatever reason, Ganondorf was truly treating him as a friend... He had to find out. "Fine. Lead the way - what's your name, by the way?"  
She paused. "It's Katina. And, of course, I know who you are. Who doesn't?"  
_I don't. _Silently, he followed the elegantly-dressed Katina - a high-ranking servant, he guessed - upwards through a maze of corridors. As he progressed, the surroundings gained a sort of spartan, vicious splendour. Faintly, in the distance, organ music played.  
Eventually, his guide paused. "He's in here, lord Lalandin." _I am going to get so sick of that name, if anyone else..._ Katina pushed the door of a great hall open.   
"Your highness? I brought him..." she called out.   
Link looked on as a figure at the hall's far end turned round to meet him. As he had been informed, it was Ganondorf - the human, not the monster. _Although that's just words._

What was more disconcerting was that the Evil King seemed genuinely pleased to see him, and not just as a third Triforce piece. 

Ganondorf grinned strangely, an excitement radiating from his mind, as he strode down the hallway. "Oni!" he laughed. "You must forgive my servants' rough treatment of you - but it has been so long, old friend. Seven years since I saw you, and never a word."  
"_You_ can call me Link. And since were we ever friends?" he replied, coldly.  
The Gerudo king raised an eyebrow at the Hylian immortal. "And since when were you so quick to compare yourself to my old rival? I know you started off the same, you told me enough times - but you've proved yourself my ally ever since you freed me from that accursed prison. Why, then, do you use the name of that hated shadow of what you were? I thought you changed time, not changed with it..."  
His expression did not change. But inside, Link felt sickened by the implications. _He's saying I freed him from the Sacred Realm? No... This can't be.  
This is... how... why...  
Twinrova!_

All of a sudden, it became clear. 

- 

"He's on to us!" 

- 

"Seven years..." Ganon interrupted his thoughts. "Seven years since our pact. Hyrule is mine, Termina yours. Twin worlds of darkness and perfection. The way it should be, Oni'kara."  
"No!" Link lunged forwards, and seized the Gerudo by his collar. "Don't call me that. Don't even think you know me... but I know you. You're... an illusion. A shadow. I don't know what that pair of witches are up to... but they will never get my assistance like this." Raging, he threw Ganondorf across onto the floor. "I've got no time to waste on you. You don't exist." A hysterical laugh escaped him. "It's all so obvious, now... it was all a trick! Ever since... that mixed-up dream... I'm still dreaming!" He turned his back and walked away. 

A voice interrupted him. Not Ganon's, any more.  
"You're leaving me? Again?" Link snapped back round. Where he had thought he'd left a desert warrior, lay the exact opposite. And a final proof that this was not real. A lump caught in his throat. "How... you abandoned me before, you left me away from my home... and you're going to leave me alone again!"  
He closed his eyes, blazing white with emotion. "No. I didn't abandon you. Wherever you are, you're safe. Because you're not here with me." 

Link began to run. He had no idea which way. All he knew was that he had to get out of this maze.  
Any direction. Anything would do. 

_But... what am I trying to escape? The only prison here is my own mind...   
Trapped in my own consciousness... the only cage that could ever hold me...  
Think, dammit, Oni'kara..._ he silently cursed, unconscious how he had just referred to himself. _You can break through the boundaries of the universe, but not through your own thoughts?_

"There's a way, you know," someone called to him. Sheik - the original, or so it would seem. The face he saw was more like his own in shape than Zelda's, except for the eyes. "You are what you think you are. And you are where you think you are. Running won't help." The Sheikah's advice seemed fair enough. But why was the idea coming from his form, rather than someone else's? "Everything here is a symbol. Everything an illusion. Everything a mirror. Think, brother." _Why did he just call me..._ But the logic was clear. To escape this world - he had to escape it as any other. 

Mentally, Link began to search for the boundaries of the worlds. Silent, he raised his hands outwards, searching for one in particular. The real world.  
_There it is! _A faint shimmer in the air outlined a gateway.   
He stepped forwards. 

- 

Twinrova watched, almost powerless. A faint glow began to flicker into Link's eyes.  
"We've got to stop this! If we've got any chance... full power! Now!" Koume yelled. She fired a shining red flare towards the sleeping deity.   
Kotake joined in. "Don't have to tell me! We've got to seal him in! If he's gonna destroy our power - he's gotta destroy himself first!" 

- 

The gate closed as Link stepped through -   
and left him falling into an abyss. 

_This is wrong! I can't..._

"You won't escape us like that, lalandin..." the witches' voices echoed.  
"You bet?" 

Softly, he landed on an invisible plain in the void. Surprised, he looked around for any sign of life, but there was none. Except...  
Shadows formed and danced around him. Every enemy, every nightmare, Link had ever faced poured out of the cracks in his subconscious to torment him.  
Twinrova were taking no chances. 

_There's nothing here you haven't seen. Nothing you haven't won over.  
(Just not all at once.)_

They crowded in, dark and terrible. Ganon laughed and Majora shrieked. Twinmold and Volvagia twisted in the skies, while armies of minor enemies - Boes, Chuchus, Tektites and Stalchildren - packed in, leaving no room to move.   
Wildly, he reached for his sword. He swung in random circles, forgetting all techniques, in a vain attempt to keep them at bay.  
Even as he attacked, something struck him that had never before. Something had come through from his mind apart from the monsters - a memory.  
_A name... _  
Usually, Link had never bothered with giving swords names. Why? They were only tools. Until that point, only the Master Sword had had another title. Not even the blade he carried now had been granted one. But here, in his mind -   
_The Sword of Eternity, _he thought, watching the blue flares crackle along the blades.   
_It's... something else, too... What is it? _  
Still, there was no time to pause. He leapt backwards over a Dodongo's burst of flame, blade scoring through the lizard's armoured scales, before striking behind him on instinct. A piercing howl indicated that a Wolfos had just collapsed.  
Link's conscious mind virtually switched off. Only his battle-ready core, the Fierce Deity, had any hold. Spinning, ducking, weaving through the melee - no opponent created here in his mind was any threat.   
One by one, they all fell.  
As one by one, he smashed through the witches' controls on his mind.   
His own, too. 

After what could have been eons, the last opponent collapsed. He was alone. Lost in the void and the darkness of his own thoughts.   
_How... how do I get out, now? How do I escape my own soul? I've got to wake up...  
Search for the light..._

Something was coming into view. It shimmered brilliantly, gold - and silver? White gold.  
The Triforce. The Golden Power. Complete. At its heart, a final triangle.  
_My power,_ Link realised in a flash of insight. _Not my sisters'..._

One leap took him too it. Silent, he held out the Sword of Eternity. It seemed almost magnetically drawn to the glittering artifact, streamers of light connecting the two.  
Suddenly, he knew what to do.  
With a yell, he thrust the sword in through the silver-coloured triangle's heart. 

Currents of pure power surged up the blades and into his body - or his illusion of it, at least.  
The last seal on his subconscious mind was fractured. Ancient, archaic memory spilled through and seared his mind. 

Link screamed out loud.  
The Fierce Deity's mind could not hold onto this new - old - knowledge as well as his hero's personality. 

Something was going to have to give.   
And the memories of eons had more force behind them than those of a simple twenty-four years. 

_Who... who am I?  
I am... I am...  
Link...  
Oni..._

- 

His eyes flared brilliantly.  
"We're done for..." whispered Kotake. 

-- 

_A/N: _Bleh. Blatant 'Lylat Wars' reference in there (if you've played it, you know what it is). Couldn't resist... ooh, I can't wait for Dinosaur Planet...   
And finally... the plot's sorting itself out... if you've made it this far, well done!   
I'll warn you now. From here on in, the timeline gets a bit confusing (what do I mean, 'gets?'). There's two stories happening at the same time here. Hang on in there. 

At this, the half way point (in theory), I would like to say... Thank you all. Thank you so much.  
::hugs startled reviewers::  
Here goes. Thanks to... (deep breath)  
Eskimo Kid, Hello, JadeAngel, Coolia, Kylieras, Maniac Mosli, Hell Stalker, Skyler, FadeToBlackened007, Silver, Ikira the Demon, Flamer, Saturngold, Hola, Eruantale, Alice White, Corinelson, and Y.B.F.  
I wouldn't have made it this far without your support. Keep reading... 


	7. Legacy

**MindTrap**

_(The big N own the big Z. Etcetera. If you haven't already, now is a reeeeally good point to read the prequels to this story, cause this will make a helluva lot more sense if you do. Go on, read, but I told you so...)_

-- 

**_Chapter 6: Legacy_**

-- 

_Who am I?  
It's all changing... all shifting...  
Memories dying as I watch...  
Help me! Someone... someone, tell me who I am...  
I'm calling for you...  
Someone, anyone...  
One last message...  
Before...  
I am no longer myself..._

- 

"'Lena... you're not still going on, are you?..."  
"It's a bit hard not to. He's your brother, isn't he? Close enough, at least. But you don't seem to give a..."  
"That's not fair!" Malon sighed, and looked into her friend's eyes. "Look. I've lost him three times. It's just as hard for me..."  
Alena shook her head. "Okay. Maybe that was a bit harsh. It's just... This is going to sound stupid, but I've... been dreaming about him."  
"That's not stupid. You miss him. It's only fair."  
"No. These weren't those sorts of dreams..."  
"What other sort are there?"  
She looked aside. "I don't know. But... they're trying to tell me something. And it's not good, whatever it is." Slowly, she sighed. "Heh. Perhaps I need to get away. It's strange. I never realised it when Link was here, but... I miss Termina. It's taken me so long, but I'm... I'm getting homesick. And I know... I can't go back... but..." Trying to appear calm, she wiped an eye. "No use crying, right? But I just wish I could know once, how my father is, how my family are... We didn't part on the best of terms."  
"I know."  
"I never thought I'd get so sentimental."  
Malon paused. "It's okay. Here." She put a friendly arm around Alena's shoulders. "Tell you what - one day soon, when things are quiet here, I'll take you for a ride down Lake Hylia way. Never seen it, have you?" A reply was in the negative. "It's a lovely spot. I remember once, I took... now you've got me started, too. C'mon," Malon laughed, giving Alena an affectionate hug. "So. What were these dreams like?"  
"I said... it's hard to explain. But it's kind of like Link's trying to say something to me in them, but he's talking in riddles. The sorts of things I used to read in my father's old books, like old prophecies. Can't remember them at the moment, it's all so hazy. Oh - perhaps I should just forget it."  
"Don't forget it, 'Lene. Just relax."  
"I'll... I'll try," she replied, a little uneasily.  
"Great." 

As they walked downstairs, the door of the ranch house creaked open. Malon glanced over. "Must be Cam." Looking towards the doorway, she saw the unusual indigo hair of the ranch hand as he walked in, seemingly relaxed. They could both guess why. Having been a guard at the castle under Oni's rule, he had been able to feel at ease only after Link's departure from the ranch. And without the threat the Fierce Deity had posed to his life, he had finally gone back to his old job. Malon looked at him. "Did you get it?"  
"Oh - the job? Yeah. They're letting me go back. I can start again tomorrow, even, if you're okay with..."  
Talon, waiting downstairs by the fire, smiled weakly. "It's your choice. I'll miss having you around. Guess I'm just going to have to put up a job application. With you gone, and Link's left home again..."  
Malon and Alena exchanged looks. It had taken a while for the old rancher to accept that the Link who had arrived out of nowhere was, in fact, the son he had lost - and even longer for him to stop using the name 'Kaelon'. It had only been fortunate that the day of Link's departure as Guardian of Time had also been a day that he was away on business. No-one there had let on anything else than that he had left - Talon was unaware that his adopted son was gone forever. He was not even aware that Link had ever been the same person as the Lord Oni'kara he had seen in passing while in town - and it was, everyone else had decided, better that way.   
"...I'm gonna miss you too." Cam grinned, and patted the old man on the back. Not that Talon was, indeed, so old - but it seemed like it, sometimes. "Anything for dinner?" 

- 

As they ate, the conversation continued. Eventually, Talon got up and walked away to check on the horses. Epona had been acting strangely.   
"I think... I think she misses her old master," Malon commented.  
"Yeah, but it's not like he's coming back," Alena replied, sadly.  
"Link's not," Cam muttered under his breath. "Oni might. Then... guess who the first one in the firing line is?"  
Alena shot him an angry look. "Don't say that! Oni or Link, he wouldn't..."  
"I don't know. That's where I'm different from you girls. You could see him the night he left, ready and armed and all - but you just saw your old friend there. But as for me...  
I remember one day, a coupla weeks before he went away. You were busy, Malon, so we'd gone to take a delivery into town. Right? I can still see it. He was as edgy as anything. He kept fiddling at that weird pendant he used to wear - you know the one, 'Lena - like it was a jinx or something. I say to him, 'take it off', but he's all 'I can't'. He won't explain anything to me. Never would." Cam sighed. "Next thing, we're in town. So - we get to work. I'm passing him a crate off the back of the cart, then - he just vanishes. Into thin air. I mean it." Alena gave him a surprised look, and nodded. "So, he's gone about - I'd say, a minute or so. Not long, anyway, but I was confused as anything. Then, he just reappears, looking a bit frazzled and holding that bit of jewellery in his hands. And frankly, if he was nervy - it got me a bit jumpy, too.  
Anyway. Then, I see his eyes. And... I'm reminded of the last time I saw him, saw - " he made a face, recalling - "Oni, when he tried to get me... Now, he's all surprised. Embarrassed a bit, too. He put that thing back round his neck as if he's trying to hide the truth, 'cause his eyes go back to what I'd have called normal as soon as he does. But it was no use. Couldn't fool me. I knew the truth then. I didn't want to tell you and spoil your illusions, but when he was here he was tricking you. He had us all fooled into believing he was something he was not. In the end, I kind of got to accept it. Okay, I'll admit he was a strange kind of good company. I tried to - I tried to see it as, he must have reformed, 'cause he was trying to pretend he wasn't anyone like who he was. But in the end, it meant he was deceiving us, and I couldn't forget that. I should've told you sooner, before he went." 

Alena and Malon looked at each other, before the first spoke. "No. I knew it all along."  
"What?!" Cam snapped. "You were keeping secrets, too?"  
"You sounded just like my father, then... but, yes. I was. That pendant was mine - I gave it him when he went up to the castle the day after we arrived here... because I knew he was going to need it."  
He shook his head. "Aw, great. Just - great." Suddenly, he began to laugh.   
"What's so funny?"  
"It was just something I heard back then. One of the guys on the gate had a word with me while Link was away. One of these other worlds, was it?" Alena nodded. "Didn't remember me, but he remembered the old boss okay. Wondered where he'd gone. I dunno... I didn't have the heart to say that he was unloading the milk crates." He sighed. "Looks like this is goodbye..."  
"Of course. See you." Surprised at herself, Malon went over and gave Cam a hug. "It'll be weird without you here now."  
"Well, at least I'll be around in this world." He caught a look in Alena's eye. "Aw, 'Lene, I was just kidding you." 

- 

The castle was silent. Apart from watching guards on the night shift, the young queen was alone as she walked out into the courtyard. Almost unregarded, she sat down, and in a fashion hardly becoming of royalty lay back and watched the stars.  
At least she had the chance now. Two years had gone by, but it was doing nothing to diminish her memories of her virtual captivity. She had been the queen in name only for so long - it had been strange when the time had come to rule in her own right. As she gazed, one constellation in the south caught her eye. The Hunter, the astrologers called it, standing battle ready with a sword of stars raised over his head.   
Somehow, it looked all too much like - him. Her mind filled in the details that the star-patterns hinted at.   
Almost inaudibly, she whispered. Two names, for the one person. "Oni..." she murmured. "Link... what are you doing now?..." Thoughts clashing, she caught tears rolling down her face. 

Only one spectator saw it. It had been two years since he had lived and worked at the castle - and protocol was one of the first things he had forgotten. In any case, he had technically been under the employ of Oni rather than Zelda.  
"Your highness?" Cam asked, walking over. Zelda looked over in surprise. "What's wrong?"  
She blinked, not used to being approached like this. "Oh - it's... it's nothing."  
"I heard it. It wasn't nothing. But... I can promise you one thing. I knew him, too. Knew Link..."  
"What? When?"  
"He was living on Lon Lon ranch the last few months. Where I was working. And I can tell you this, ma'am. He's gone for good now. He's left Hyrule."  
Zelda shook her head. "I... I don't know what to think of your news. I've only seen him once... since the Gerudo wars, two years ago. But if he's gone... I thought, when I saw him then, he'd gone back to being the boy I knew as a child..."  
Cam sighed. "That's... that's the problem, ma'am. He's the old Oni again. I heard that he's not gone back to his old ways - he's on our side... but I don't think I'd quite trust him any more."  
"No..." the queen whispered to the guard. "If he ever returns here... I won't stand for it again. Anyone sees him, anyone at all... I need to know. I've got to get away. Spread the word."  
He nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I will do." Silent, knowing when his intrusion wasn't wanted, Cam walked away back to his post. 

Zelda glanced over her shoulder, occupied with the news - both good and bad, she thought. One thing was certain. She would never go back to the way things were.  
_It could have been worse, _she thought, those years... _he wasn't Ganon, he wasn't exactly cruel..._  
_No, only cold, heartless, ruthless...   
Hyrule's had worse rulers...  
Who? He would have killed you, if you'd stepped out of line...  
He had cause to, by his standards... but didn't. Doesn't that mean anything?  
Anyway... he's gone..._  
She sighed, and settled back to watch the stars. As she rested back onto the ground, her hand gave her a sharp flicker of pain. _What was that about? _she wondered, looking at it. _Wait... that's... the other timeline... the one thing I remember, I was... that's..._

- 

While Zelda watched the night sky, her parallel slept on. 

_...She walked across the clock-tower platform. He was there. Waiting patiently, his hands resting lightly on his sword. His painted face was only the face of the man she loved, and his shining eyes held no fear.  
"You never forgot me."  
"I can't forget you, Link! You're... you're part of me..."  
"I am not. But my greatest treasure is. Take care of it for me, sister of courage, for it is no longer mine to hold... One last gift from who you know..."  
"What... why are you talking like this! Less of the riddles!"  
He just smiled. "You'll see easily enough what I mean. Be patient, love..." With that, a faint blue haze enveloped his form, and he disappeared from view. She rushed forwards, but it was too late..._

Alena bolted upright in bed. The same dreams again? "You never talked like that when... you were here..." she whispered, and wiped a stray tear from her azure eyes. Knowing why he had had to leave didn't make it any easier to accept it.   
She doubted she'd be able to get back to sleep, as the first light of the sun crept in through the windows. Silently, she rolled out of bed and looked out, standing in the same spot she had become accustomed to watching the world through. 

Sighing, she took her gaze away from the crimson-stained sky and looked idly at the hands that rested on the windowsill.   
She nearly yelled out in surprise, as one beam of light highlighted something she had never seen before. Shocked, Alena squinted at the back of her right hand. Something was there. It was only faintly visible, but as she looked, it seemed to be developing like a pictograph print.  
A dark golden pattern across the skin. Three interlocked triangles.   
Mouth wide open in shock, she waved her hand up and down, and rubbed at the strange mark in an attempt to get it to go away. But it wasn't going to go that easily. 

Slowly, it dawned on her what had happened.  
Impossible, but it was happening all the same.  
_Your greatest treasure, Link... it was...  
Courage? Me?_

- 

The afternoon arrived slowly, it seemed to Alena. She trusted Malon enough to talk about what was happening. There was no one else, however.   
As she pulled Shara's tack into place, she looked across at her friend.  
"Malon?" she called. "Can you tell me this?"  
"What is it?"  
"I know you know about the Triforce, and all that. He told us both. But... do you think someone would have to... die before they passed on a piece..."  
The red-haired woman walked over, a puzzled expression on her face. "Why? What's up, 'Lena? What got you thinking about..."  
"This did." Silently now, she stretched her hand out. "Looks familiar, doesn't it?..."  
For a moment, Malon was speechless. "It can't be that. Can't be. He's... he's immortal, right?"  
"Doesn't mean he couldn't have been killed," Alena half-whispered. "Could have been a way, somehow... and if something could destroy Link... what chance would ordinary people have?"  
"No," Malon replied, trying to see a way out. "It's happened before. Two years ago, the Triforce passed to a new bearer, and the old was still alive..."  
"But that was still Link, wasn't it?"  
"The point still holds. I'm sure he's going to be fine." She sighed. "I'm sure." 

Quietly, they continued to tack up the horses. But somehow, the prospect of a ride in the sunshine no longer held so much appeal. 

-- 

_A/N_: (whoops happily) I finished this chapter! At last! I'm _reeeeeally sorry_ about the delay. It really couldn't be helped. Urgent 3Kword essays - blame my Art teacher for stifling my literary talents. Evil! I haven't had time to sit down and write, pure and simple. Sorry to leave you guys hanging so long.   
On that topic, please say that wasn't too much of a cliffhanger... _pwease_... I'm trying, I'm trying... but the wicked little cliffhanger demons are taking over my computer... I don't know why, but this story just leaves itself full of cliffs to hang off when my others didn't. Eep. 

The plot's had a heck of a reshuffle here. This chapter was originally going to be uploaded before 'Breakout'. Heh. Works better this way, methinks. 

I am rather pleased to announce that MindTrap has become my most reviewed story... thank you all! 

To my #1 stalker: Sequel? Ooh... coming someday... no, really, when I can get the plot unknotted. Prequel too.  
To Merika: I'm glad to know I made a good impression for the Zelda section...  
To Shades of Oblivion aka: You want confusing? Hope this is getting confusing enough... anyone else, sorry to be so confused!  



	8. Mirror, Mirror...

**MindTrap**

_(Usual applies, duh. Don't own Zelda, do own Alena and co. , and all that blah. O.K.?)_

-- 

**_Chapter 7: Mirror, Mirror_**

-- 

Cam shuffled his feet. He'd fallen out of the old habits he'd learnt as a guard at the castle, and his legs were tiring from standing still.   
His companion looked sideways at him. "You look rough, pal."  
"Feel rough, Danno." He coughed. "Think I've caught a bug. Okay for you Gorons - you don't get colds."  
"You say? My cousin Terka came down with the worst case'o flu you ever saw... Sneezing for days..."  
"Eh. Not nice." Cam sighed, and tapped his pike on the ground out of boredom. He was already missing the ranch. Malon, especially. "You got a pack of cards?"  
"Nope. "  
He squinted down the road. "Shame. I learnt a coupla games from foreign parts..."  
"At the ranch? Who taught you?"  
He shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I said." _Only the old boss. _Suddenly, something caught his eye. Down in the distance, someone was walking up the road. He froze.   
_That's not..._  
His heart fluttering, Cam turned aside. When he spoke, it was in a deadly calm voice. "Danno. Go to the castle. Warn whoever's on duty... that _he's back._"  
"...He's back? Who do you..." He got an elbow in the side, although it hurt Cam's arm more than the Goron's chest. "Oh. I see."  
"I think he might just be paying a social call."_ I hope. Malon said, they all said, but I can't believe he'd come back if he was still good inside... _"But - if he's not... the queen has to know. She told me herself. If I'm not down to meet you very quickly... it's no good. For your sake, for her sake, for everyone's..." For a moment, there was silence. "What are you waiting for? Get going!" 

As Danno rolled away quickly, leaving tracks in the dust, Cam walked on down the road. "Now or never..." he muttered to himself. "Hey! Link! Over here! Thought you'd gone..." He tried to seem calm. But it was a sham. Inside, his mind screamed _and you're trying to be friendly with Oni?_

White eyes fixed on red as the armoured figure approached.  
Cam didn't hear the last words as the blast of blue light flared towards him.  
The Fierce Deity strode past, sparing only one glance. "You escaped me so long... but no-one does." 

- 

The Goron barrel-rolled into Zelda as she walked into the library.  
"What?" she yelled, surprised and shocked. "Why are you..."  
"I heard you wanted warning if... your old advisor... came back. So that's what I'm doing."  
She went pale. "Never. That's it. Have you seen Impa? I'm going away. And I want her to come with me."  
"Haven't seen her - but going away, your highness?"  
"Yes. Until it's all safe." _Until he's gone._ She began to walk away, and paused. "Thank you. You might have saved my life..." The last was in a whisper. Still, there was no time to delay now. 

Zelda slowly proceeded away until she was out of anyone's view - before running as fast as she could, in a way that did not suit a country's ruler.  
_But if he's coming back... I'm no ruler any more.  
Maybe I'm nobody...  
But I've got to get away. Make time to think things through. _  
Making a rough guess, she began to head towards her chambers. Even if she didn't find Impa quickly, she could at least get rid of the worst of her royal robes - if she had the time. Anything that would make her less conspicuous, though she doubted that would help. 

"Your highness! You look as frightened as a little kid! Where are you going in such a rush..." the voice she trusted the most in the world called to her, as she frantically sprinted through the halls.  
"How many times, Impa... call me Zelda. There's no-one around. Not yet, anyway, and that's what I'm worrying about. He's back!"  
"Who's 'he', then?"  
"Two words for you. First one's 'Fierce'. You can guess the second."  
"Oni? You told me that he'd apologised..." The sage looked on, worried. "He'd reformed, you said."  
"I wouldn't trust his apology. Not after what I've heard." Zelda paused. "We've got to get out of here. You know how he treated you."  
Sadly, remembering, Impa shook her head. "I see your meaning. I know you wouldn't abandon the castle if you didn't think it was serious." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I can get us out of here quickly - I hope. There's an old teleportation spell I used to use, though I haven't tried it for a long time... It won't take us far, just - say, to the stables... And you're not dressed for travelling."  
"I know. But do you think..."  
"Don't worry about getting to your room. I've got another trick for that... Hold my hand. I hope I can pull this off." 

It was a different Zelda who rode free of the castle. Not the Sheik of another timeline - a young woman still, but dressed almost Sheikah-style. 

- 

"Hey - Alena? When did you get..." Malon commented on her friend's unusual clothing choice. Sheikah, though she couldn't recognise it as such.  
"This was the stuff I brought from Termina, remember? Thought it would be best for riding in."  
"You sure you still want to go? The weather's changing pretty badly..."  
"It'll do me good to take my mind off things." She reached to climb onto Shara's back, but paused. "Wait. Let me go get something from the house, okay?"  
"No problem. I left my whip in the barn. I never use it, mind, but helps if I hold it."   
They split up, leaving Epona and her daughter alone. The horses whickered faintly. There was a familiar smell on the air. 

- 

As the horses pounded away across the drawbridge, Zelda risked a quick look back. Dark clouds seemed to be gathering over the castle's turrets. Much as they were doing in her heart. She could almost imagine the expression on that furious painted face now - assuming that he was interested in her for whatever reason. But there was no other logical conclusion she could draw. Why, otherwise, would he have come back? He'd apologised, true, the one day that she had seen him as who he had been before his transformation. She hoped with all her heart that it was the old Link, the hero she had once known, who had returned - but she knew that it could never be. The brewing storm was a testament to that much. It couldn't be coincidence, surely.  
"H'yah, Moonlight!" She spurred her horse on. Behind her, she could see Impa increasing speed to match, her grey charger moving up into a flat-out gallop. 

Eventually, they slowed to a walk, and began to talk.   
"Fine, Zelda - we're out. I can only guess that you've got a good place to hide out now... I used to know a few. However, I think he knows them too."  
"That's a good question. I wonder... do you think we'd be safe if we headed to the ranch? The Lon Lon place? Maybe not for long - but it would do to get our bearings. Is that alright?"  
"We're at risk anywhere. At least we're promised a warm welcome there - just as travellers."  
"I wouldn't want it any other way. If news gets about..."  
"Right. Let's go." At a steady trot, they headed onwards. 

Reaching the ranch, they dismounted. "Wait here," Impa commented. "I'll go find the owners." Quickly, she walked away.   
Zelda waited for a little, but felt strange by herself. Insecure from a distant threat. She patted the horses on the nose, and made up her mind to look for herself. Shortly, she spotted a red-haired young woman her age - Malon, she guessed. She'd be the one to ask. 

- 

Impa spotted her royal companion's familiar figure walking away from the ranch house. She paused, surprised."Your highness... I thought you had remained with the horses..."  
Alena span round hearing the familiar voice. 'Your highness'? Her mother had called her 'my princess' as a child, but that had only been a joke... Still, that had been her voice, surely enough. "Mum?..." The words choked up in her throat before logic could force them back. She knew where her mother was - a world away. This wasn't her.  
"Zelda? What do you mean?"  
"I'm... I'm not Zelda!"  
"Sure." Impa's eyes twinkled. "I thought the Queen of Hyrule would be past this sort of joke..."  
"No... I'm serious. You've got me confused with... with the queen." Even as she spoke, Alena couldn't believe it. _Are we really that much alike? I mean, I can look at you, you look like my mother but I can tell you're not, now I've seen... but being compared to royalty... ha. I wish._  
"Now - that's impossible. What are you trying to tell me?" The Sheikah's voice became harder. "And why would you wish to impersonate..."  
"I'm not 'impersonating' her! This is the _real_ me. It's a long story, and I don't know how to explain it... heck, Link would, but he's not here..."  
The name didn't immediately register with Impa. When it did, it was only as a small boy she had met rather than the young man Alena had known - or the Fierce Deity he had become. "I'm sure I'd like to meet your friend... wait..." she whispered, suddenly remembering. "_What do you know of..._" 

As Alena started to reply, she was interrupted by the sound of a voice almost identical - _forget the almost, _she thought - to her own. And its owner appeared to be bothered by something. She headed off to see what had happened. But who that was was not hard to guess. 

- 

"Did you get - whatever it was?" Malon yelled to the familiar figure waiting by the horses - no, different horses. She didn't recognise them.  
"Who are you talking to?"  
"'Lena, this isn't a joke! You're talking like... c'mon, it's just me..."  
"I'm sorry - but you're making no sense, either! Do you mean you don't recognise me?" A sigh. "Zelda?"  
Malon almost let out a shriek. She'd virtually forgotten. "Zelda - you're... your highness! I'm sorry - but you just look like... there's someone I know, she's been living around here a few months now. I didn't expect to see you here, so... you see?"  
Zelda paused, confused. "Someone who looks like me? I don't get it... that sounds impossible."  
"I thought that too, but a lot of impossible things went on the day we first met. I'm just wondering where she went..." She whistled. "Did anyone come with you, your..."  
"There's no need for that. But yes - I brought my advisor, Impa."  
Malon nearly swore. "Alena - that's my friend, your... your twin, almost - said that her mother was called... this isn't good... Hang on. Come with me... please. Any luck, she'll be..." She began to walk away, Zelda following. 

- 

The pairs met. And stopped.   
Slowly, Alena and Zelda stepped forwards in total amazement. 

In silence, they looked into their own eyes. Even those who knew them best had trouble telling the differences between them at a casual glance. Perhaps, now Malon and Impa looked more closely, they could tell the parallels apart - but, if they were so much as to blink, the pair would appear identical again.  
Zelda and Alena each raised a hand, moving as if they were in a trance. Even the Triforce markings matched, as they reached out fingertip-to-fingertip. 

"Nayru..." Zelda whispered, inaudibly. This stranger, yet no stranger - an entirely different personality lived behind the face she had seen in the mirror all her life. This could all have been the most elaborate of illusions.  
"Farore..." Alena murmured under her breath. Even though she had already known of Zelda's existence, to come face to face with someone her exact double still took her breath away. It was almost like a waking dream. 

As their fingers touched, they realised this was no dream. Two pairs of blue eyes locked in a strange understanding for one fleeting moment, before almost in shock they pulled away. 

"Why... please, what are you doing here? Your highness?"  
Zelda smiled. "There's no need for that - here, I'm not the queen. Just somebody trying to escape..." She sighed, shook her head, and looked back at her parallel. "The ranch is the safest place I know to rest a while."  
"Escape what?"  
Both Malon and Alena looked on in surprise as Zelda finished speaking.  
"Oni's returned. I can't stay at the castle, not now... if you would be so kind as to let me stay here..." 

For a moment, there was silence. Then the Terminian and the rancher spoke at once.  
"What?"  
"Link? How could he..."  
"She said... I mean, he ...changed, but..."  
"How? Why?..." 

- 

There was no need for the three sisters to use words to communicate. Any messages travelled from one celestial mind to the next at the speed of thought.  
Emotions, too. And one of those was present in all three at once.   
Fear. Not too strong a word to use, even of a goddess' state of mind. 

_He's returned.  
We all knew that, Nayru - we gave him back his powers!  
Not all... he's still an exile, remember! He's part-human, now. Can't come back to us as he was - before this happened.  
I can't imagine that...  
You've never been there in the worlds, Din, since the beginning. I thought he was happy as one of them...  
How?  
You don't miss what you don't remember.  
That's the problem! We never thought - but he does! It's...  
He's going to be angry.  
I'd say fierce.  
I'd say - dangerous. Even to us here... He's resourceful, human life has taught him that much._

There was one thing that the three sisters did not need to mention. If they were destroyed... Hyrule, Termina... all would fall in turn. 

_I can only hope that he can be stopped...  
You won't try yourself?  
I did! It's not so simple... he's immune to our powers from here. We'd have to stop him - down there..._

-- 

_A/N_:   
::bangs head on desk:: I'm _sorry_!   
I've really... _really... _been having trouble with this chapter. Even though I knew what I wanted to do with it, it just wasn't doing... Never mind writer's block, I had writer's box (uggh, that's the worst), cube, brick and rock at the same time! The rest of the chapters will probably come more quickly, here's hoping. Or not. Thank you, college. 

Confused? Hang on in there. The timeline will straighten out.  
_(Me: Your fault, Link. You're meant to be Guardian of Time here, right? You should've sorted it out...  
FD Link: Don't blame me! You're the author! And what's with...  
Me: Patience, Grasshopper...  
FDL: That's Romani's line!  
Me: Oops.)_

Then again, a great man rather appropriately once said 'Chaos is order in a mask'... so perhaps it shouldn't be so surprising how this story's going... (recognise the quote, anyone? Terry Pratchett's 'Thief of Time' - which I will never again be able to read without thinking of FD jokes.) 


	9. The Face Inside...

**MindTrap**

_(Nintendo own Zelda. Bill Gates owns everything else. I don't own squat.)_

-- 

**_Chapter 8: The Face Inside..._**

-- 

Memories cascaded through Link's mind, flaring, conflicting - and dying. He flashed back through his past. Years flew by in split seconds - but time, of all things, was not his concern. 

_Who... who am I?_

It took every effort to hold on to his sense of self. And it seemed to be a struggle not worth fighting.   
_Let it go, Oni'kara... _his mind whispered. _Let that life go. Every relic of it..._  
_No! _he cried. _I'm...  
You know who you are! _

Even as he thought, more and more memories flew by. 

_2 years ago...  
12 years ago..._

Every last detail, even long forgotten recollections of his first childhood, came into focus. 

_I am... Link...  
H... Hero of Time, keeper of Courage...  
That's... that's it. Or was... But... I cannot hold it any more...   
Gift of my sisters, fly to someone who deserves you!..._

Releasing the Triforce of Courage to he knew not where - only hoping its bearer would be worthy - sent him further on through the timestreams, as his link to his past was severed. 

_24 years ago..._

For a fleeting moment, he realised the truth behind his family, as Link's earliest memories sprang past. How long had he wondered where his roots lay? That one clue from Twinrova's dream-trickery had rung true, after all... but it was hardly his concern now.  
They were no longer his family. If they ever had been. 

_100 years...  
500 years...  
1000...  
2000..._

_I... I am..._

The waves of time broke in his consciousness, leaving him standing on the shores of the past. 

_I am...  
Oni...  
Always... now and forever..._

- 

Powerless, Koume and Kotake watched. The spell that had trapped the Fierce Deity was wearing off. The blazing light in his eyes was even more brilliant than it had been before.  
Scattering the witches, he sprang to his feet. They could sense something was wrong.   
"You!..." he hissed, angrily. "You dare to try and deceive me?"  
"Easy..." Kotake made a pretence of apologising. She was terrified. This was never supposed to have happened. "I can... I can explain, Lalandin..."  
On that, he leapt towards her like a predator. She backed away, as did her sister. "Can't you even say my name, witch?" Kotake began to open her mouth, but the words were held in check. "Link, you're saying? Wrong. So wrong. I... am Oni'kara. Creator of Time. And I will make you pay for your trickery!..."  
"Trickery?"  
"Your... illusions. Your little dreams. None of that was real, was it?" the Fierce Deity virtually spat, seizing the ice witch by the collar.  
"What do you mean, 'real'?" her sister asked, trying to distract his attention. "Nothing you saw - well, almost nothing, I'll admit - came from anywhere but your own experience. Every place, every face - they were real, weren't they?" Grudgingly, Oni agreed. "We just... arranged things differently, in some cases..."  
"And that makes things better, does it? Your little justifications for your lies? Oh - I remember it all now. Every detail. Every single thing..." He threw one witch into the other, and readied the Sword of Eternity. Now, he began to remember what it was. More than simply a weapon - but the one time heart of the Golden Power. And the only powers he had salvaged after his exile. 

_His exile... _Suppressed fury rose within him. The blades hissed through the air, but stopped a literal hair's breadth from Koume's neck. She tried not to breathe.  
_My problem is not with this pathetic pair. Maybe I should kill them here... but no. Perhaps I owe them their lives... for they have restored mine. But for what they did to me before that... they must pay._

"You forced me into another world, did you?" Keeping the sword perfectly poised in his left hand, he raised the right. Dark energy shimmered around his fingers. "Let's see how you like it, now! Another timeline... another date... ah, yes! Two hundred years should do it, do you think?"  
Oni'kara yelled, and threw a sphere of brilliant black light skywards. Unable to stop themselves, Twinrova were sucked towards it.  
They vanished, helpless. 

_-flashforward-_

_"Where... where are we?"  
"You're new here? This is Labrynna..."_

_-flashback-_

Impassive, he watched them go. Part of his past. Part of Link's life.  
Not the life he now had to lead. 

But what sort of a life was that, he wondered. Although it had been two thousand years since he had been cast away into a mortal life, the memory was as fresh as if it was only yesterday.  
With a faint, grim smile, he looked down at his gauntleted hands. _I'm all here... it's all returned. I can feel my power, waiting..._  
_And now, to reclaim what was taken from me! So long, I've waited for this moment... _  
Almost casually, he began to feel for the gateway into his own realm as he would have any other. He would know it if he found it... Yet something was wrong. Something did not match up.   
With a start, Oni realised what had happened.  
_No mortal could ever reach our realm... yet..._  
"No!" he roared, plunging his sword into the ground. "Am I to be cast out forever? And I thought I was... I was myself!" _But that little part of me that was born truly human will keep me away... Lost forever! What sort of a fate is this?  
_ In a way that Link could never have understood, he now knew the true meaning of eternity. And it was possibly the only thing that could scare him. Angrily - at himself, at his sisters, at fate - he yanked the sword back and lunged at nothing at all. It did nothing, except to steady his thoughts.  
_What do I do now? When I was so certain... I thought I was all that I was...  
But these powers are not enough. _He paused. No. _But I know what would be..._  
_I should never have sacrificed that piece of the Golden Power. No matter. I will just have to find it the hard way._

He looked back up the face of Snowhead Mountain. The path open to him was clear. Twinrova's illusion of a mountain pathway had been nothing - but he knew where the worlds were bound together now. His destination.  
Home.  
Or what had been. 

- 

The heat of Death Mountain's crater hit Oni'kara like a suffocating wave as soon as he came through the portal, bringing with it a memory he doubted he could share with any other being in the many worlds. One of his own death. Twenty-four years ago... the last day he had spent as himself alone.  
Yet the boiling lava had destroyed that body he inhabited, as powerless to avoid it he had plunged into its fiery depths. Even his nerves were shaken at the recollection of the searing flames cascading through his body, one of the precious few things that could have destroyed him. Even now, even returned to power, the lava could still prove to be his downfall.  
_But I have nothing to fear here..._  
To prove it to himself as much as anything, he walked up to the cliff's edge and looked into the searing sea of molten rocks.   
_It's nothing, _he thought. _But, if I was to... _Casually, he reached up and slid his cap off. A long platinum braid fell down his back. With a faint smile, he threw the simple white hat down into the lava. In the glow, it gained a pinkish tinge as it fell before being swallowed by the flames.  
One thought crossed his mind. _Goodbye, Link._

Without looking back, Oni set off across the rocky paths. 

- 

The castle was deserted as he arrived. No-one proved to be any trouble - except that one guard. But he should have known not to stand in his way. If he was strong, Cam would recover from his wound. But it was far from Oni's concern.  
What was his concern was finding the queen. Or more specifically, the Triforce element she carried almost unknowingly. And so far, he was having no success in finding her. The courtiers and guards were too afraid to say anything, but he could see in their minds that they had nothing to say. Except one. A Goron - and a familiar face at that. Twelve years on from those years of innocence, before Link had ever known what 'Fierce Deity' meant - he'd finally found the parallel to the warrior Darmani whose face he had taken before his own. 

"For the last time... where is she!" he hissed. He had no need to shout - his cold, icy tones said it all better than mere volume.  
Danno's black eyes grew wide in fear. "I... I really don't know, sire! I saw her... as she was escaping... but I don't know where she's gone - I think she was riding towards the ranch..."  
Oni'kara threw the Goron away roughly. "The ranch, you say?" he almost laughed. "This is better than I expected!" 

- 

Zelda held up a hand, as Malon and Alena began to run on. "Please - quiet! I thought that if I came here, I would be safe. After all, I doubt that he will look for me here..."  
"He won't look for you," Alena remarked. "But... Link lived here for two months. That's why I'm here in the first case." She gave Zelda a potted history of her arrival in Hyrule. "You say he's come back. If it's my Link who's returned... we've got nothing to worry about. But... you said Oni, instead. And that's... that's got me worried."  
"We're missing the point, here," Malon interrupted. "Surely the question is... what threat would he pose either of you? What do you have he might want?" Suddenly, she stopped. "Dear Nayru - of course! Your highness..."  
"Just Zelda. Please. I told you, already."  
"I'm afraid you might have made matters worse coming here. The one thing I can think of that he might look for, if he's gone to the bad again... The Triforce. Two pieces are in one place..."  
They looked at each other, worried. 

- 

He began to run.  
_Of course! It's so clear, now... She had to... when I gave my old powers up, who did I expect would receive them?_  
_Who else could be the bearer of courage?  
And if they're together now... what could be easier?  
Ha! I'm sounding like that fool Ganon... but I have other means than his to recall what is rightfully mine._

At his pace, he arrived at the ranch in no time at all - for all that time mattered to him. As he entered the gates, Epona whinnied in shock. Her old master had returned. If it was him. 

- 

For a moment, there was silence in the ranch house. "We don't stand a chance," Zelda whispered. "You only really knew him as a friend. Never as a warrior, never as who's coming back to fight us now. There's no way we can stand up to him..."  
"We can't think like that!" Alena snapped, seeing the hopeless expression in her parallel's eyes. She paused. "There's always a chance. And I'm going to take it. I'll go out there and stop him, if that's what it takes."  
"What? How do you expect..."  
"First - we don't know for sure that he's really gone... And even if he has - he's still Link. Somewhere. Somehow, inside. I can reach him, I know I can..."  
"I thought that at first too," Zelda sighed. "I remember when he first arrived... as who he now is. I tried to talk to him like the friend I knew... but it was no good."  
The words hung heavy in the air. "If that's the case..." Alena blinked. "I'll still do it. He would have given his life for me... maybe it's my turn now." 

Impa sighed, and looked at Alena. She had never seen that sort of fire in that face before. "You know, you may be right. You... may be able to do this. I hope you can, for all our sakes... Here. Take this." She unstrapped the short sword she carried from her back, and passed it over. "I wish there was more that I could do for you... but I think that we're all just going to be hoping for the best."  
Alena smiled. "I will." _Mum_. "I don't have a choice." She began to walk away towards the door, silently. Suddenly, she stopped. _Hang on_. She turned and ran up the stairs.  
"What are you doing?"  
"Wait! I've got an idea..." 

No-one could see what she was holding as she finally fled out of the door - all too conscious of a screamimg, burning pain in her hand. 

- 

The open space of the fields was perfect for Oni's purposes. He laughed as the storms built up around his location. The dark energy in the air would assist him greatly. 

_At last! My time has come again..._

_And all that was taken from me... all I lost in my exile... is truly my own...  
Two thousand years, they stole from me. Forced me aside. But what do they know of true emotion? They have never seen the worlds they claim they protect. To them, it's all a game.  
And I am one of their pawns - when once, I was their brother._

_They call me the Fierce Deity.  
Now - I will show them the meaning of the name..._

"Sisters!" he yelled. "Do you hear me? Here and now - I will take back what is mine!" 

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Alena running towards him. _What does she think she is doing here? Still. No matter. This way will be quicker_. He lifted his sword towards the sky, streamers of light crackling around the blades.   
_Four into one... The Golden Power reunites!_

"Link!" Alena yelled. "What do you think you are doing?"  
"Get my name right," he replied, not shifting his focus. "But what I am doing? Making up for the time I was exiled for... I will see how my sisters like it!"  
One last surge of energy flared up the sword, spreading into three bursts of brilliant light. One shot for Alena herself - towards her hand - while another sped past her to the house. The last vanished.  
Her heart racing, she realised what he was trying to do. His words made sense. 

With a violent wrench, she felt the Triforce of Courage pulled free. It joined its two partners - three, if she had known - and hung, silent and spectral, in the air. They cast a strange shimmering glow over the fields. Above them, the sky began to tear.  
Alena watched the strange expression on Oni's face. It was unlike any she had ever seen on it before - cold and calculating. Utterly remorseless. She looked on, spellbound.  
_He's going to..._

"No!" she yelled, and made a wild lunge forward. It was the element of surprise as much as anything that allowed her to push the Fierce Deity to the floor. His concentration broken, the Triforce pieces flared and vanished.  
"What did you do that for?"  
"I wasn't going to see you go and destroy the world, or whatever, because of a grudge!"  
"A grudge?" Oni'kara laughed. "This is more than a grudge. You have no idea." He got to his feet. "But because of your interference, it is all spoiled... I have no intention of killing you - yet. But stand in my way, and I will." 

Shaken, Alena stood up. "I liked you better when you were Link," she remarked. "You know? The hero?" Slowly, she pulled something from behind her back. She almost laughed herself as she saw Oni's confused, surprised expression.  
_That mask... "All that remains of the Link you know..." I thought..._

Lightning-fast, she whipped it to her face - and screamed, as a blinding green light engulfed her. Strange new forces, unknown memories, unlocked themselves inside her body. It was barely seconds, but seemed longer, before the world returned to normal. 

"Who do you think you are?" Oni whispered, as he looked at Alena. She seemed slightly younger than he knew her - about seventeen, now - and now wore a simple yet familiar green outfit. 

She smiled, and readied her sword. "The Heroine of Time." 

-- 

A/N: (and lots of them) 

Back on track with this chapter. But I still can't promise weekly updates any more - I could only make them on my earlier stories because the chapters are that much shorter. BIG apologies over any delays - this story has been causing me a helluva lot of stress. 9 and 10 may be slow, too. I'd like to promise the final chapter on May 3rd ('cube release in Europe) - but I doubt I'll be able to. Apologies again in advance.  
I. Am. Not. Giving. Up. On. This. Story, even if it ever seems that way. There's nothing worse than an abandoned story, especially considering I'm on the home run. I swear on the Triforce and the Fierce Deity's Mask that _I am going to finish this_! There's a sequel on its way, too... someday... 

To Link (if that _is_ your real name : D): Yes - I did know about the literal meaning of the word 'Oni', as JadeAngel was so kind as to mention (lol, thanks! ^_^). Try _http://www.gods-heros-myth.com/japan/oni.html._

To Shades: I had a feeling you'd comment on my Pterry quote... : p 

To Mosli: Uhm... I think you got the wrong idea. Alena's mother is the _parallel_ Impa from Termina, it's just freaky about the names. Not the Hylian sage. I could rewrite someday - that's actually a very interesting idea - but for the moment, the above stands. 

To 'Big Ben': What gives you the impression that I was gonna kill him? (Well, watch out, anyway...) 

To JA: Ramble? Me? ::shrugs:: Okay, I'm not fooling anyone : ) 

To Eruantale: Aww... internet can be a pain, can't it? 

To Senshi Nadeshiko: Nice to see word gets around - glad you're enjoying it! 

One last thing...  
_"I tried so hard, and got so far, but in the end it doesn't even matter..."_  
Link stealing the Triforce? Deja vu... (shamelessly plugs songfics) 


	10. Fierce Melee

**MindTrap**

-- 

**_Chapter 9: Fierce Melee_**

-- 

Oni'kara caught himself laughing inside. How Alena could even dare to call herself... "Would the Heroine of Time really destroy its guardian? Its creator?"  
"If that's what it takes to keep the world safe..." she replied, stepping forwards. Courage was not the problem here. Her own had been added to by that of a lost but not forgotten hero. Wisdom was, when faced with such power.  
"You misunderstand me. What I meant was - _could_ she?" 

The Sword of Eternity flicked out instantly, sending a lashing bolt of energy spinning forwards. On an unknown reflex, Alena instinctively blocked with the shield the transformation had given her - mirrored, the duplicate of one that lay dormant in the Spirit Temple of this time - before she even realised what she had done. In the back of her mind, she could hear a calm and confident voice. Hers? Or... The other option seemed impossible. Because he was now her adversary.  
_You can do this.  
It's happened before. You wouldn't be here if it hadn't. If... he... didn't have a weakness.  
The Hero triumphed - so why not...  
_She darted in quickly, sword poised. Although the weapon was unfamiliar, she didn't care. Surely, if she could...  
The blow was blocked too quickly. Unknown to Alena, Oni had seen her intentions clearly. _Such an obvious move! And I once thought that would be good enough... _With one powerful stroke, he sent her flying backwards. She landed, winded, and uncertain. 

Uncertainly, she began to think of her next move. Hero-instincts in her mind whispered of other weapons, arrows, bombs and boomerangs - anything to keep him away, keep her away from the shimmering blades of Oni's sword - but at the same time, the part of her that was still the uncertain novice fighter dared not trust to something so new. She knew what to do with a sword.   
On the other hand - she could feel something there. A faint memory, untouched for so long. A secret power.   
She quickly sheathed her weapon, and raised her hand. Her fingers tingled. The Hero's power waited for her - although not as Link had ever used it. Almost without thinking, Alena pitched a glittering fireball forwards. It smashed through the air, leaving a sparkling trail in its wake. _That was... did I do that?_

Her surprise attack seemed less of a surprise to her opponent. Oni'kara smiled as she saw it coming, and leapt away over its top. "Din's Fire?" he almost spat. "You would use my sisters' spells against me? Even were Din herself here, she couldn't win!"  
_That's what it was?_

- 

_It's the only way.  
Are you sure?  
You think she could...?  
Yes._

- 

"Try this, then!" His sword lashed out, but not to throw a lightning-bolt or even to hit an unprepared Alena. Its point slashed down into the floor, sending a tremor rippling with brilliant white energy away from where he stood.  
_Add Chaos' Wave to that list of tricks... You forget my powers!_  
The swordswoman was bowled to the floor. "You know, I _really_ liked you better as Link," she remarked as she slowly got to her feet. "You remember, right?"  
"I was never _purely_ Link," he replied. "Never, inside." But somehow, despite his assertions, Oni's words sounded awkward. Alena guessed she might have hit a nerve.  
"You might believe that - " she remarked, risking throwing a bomb, which he knocked away easily - "but I don't. You're only lying to yourself. And I've got to get you to understand that!"  
"What is there to understand?" He ran forwards, on the attack. Alena only managed to block at the last minute, and it was a close thing. She leapt aside, defensively. 

The fight continued, but it was one-sided. Every attack Alena could make was blocked, and it was barely possible for her to defend herself. One blow of the Sword of Eternity shattered her shield.  
Her own sword went the same way shortly after. Forced to rely on secondary, unfamiliar weapons she stood no chance... 

And for the second time in her life, she knew what it was to have the Fierce Deity's freezing fire burn its way through her heart. 

The pain was bad enough. 

But to see the cold expression on Oni'kara's face - that was even worse. 

- 

_Whiteness..._  
"Where am I?" Alena asked, shocked.   
A faint laughter, almost out of hearing, answered her question. "Between the worlds."  
"Am I... am I dead?"  
"That is what you are here to decide." 

"What do you mean? What sort of a question is that? I want to live!"  
"Of course you do, child," a different voice to the first added. Alena was sure she had heard it before, but she could not put a name to the speaker.  
"I'm no..." she started, but faltered. Something in the voices' tones suggested that, compared to them, that was all that she was.  
"We will let you live," a third voice added. "You see.... we need your help. And yours alone."  
"Okay - so what do you want me for?"  
"We need you to stop Oni'kara."  
Stating the obvious, she thought. "I've tried! Look - I was out there, I tried my best! Just what is someone like me, never fought in my life before, supposed to do against..."  
"Our brother." 

Alena fell silent.   
Suddenly, it all fell into place. 

"You're..."  
"You are correct, child. I am Farore. I believe you remember me," the goddess added in a kindly tone.  
"I couldn't forget you," Alena whispered, in awe for a moment.  
"Relax," Nayru asked. "You do not need to fear us. But I would guess that your fear would not hold you back, after all you have done. Help us."  
"There is only one way to defeat Oni'kara now. You must take our powers... Alone, we would not stand a chance. Even in your world, we would be weakened. But a human warrior, one born to the physical worlds, who would wield our power... You are our only hope."  
"I... I can't! Surely!" she protested. "What will happen to you?"  
"We will pay the price gladly, if it will restore peace to the worlds."  
For a moment, Alena paused._ I can't do this, surely...  
They can't...  
They can, they will..  
I will._  
"Alright. I'll... I'll do it. Just... what do I do?"  
"Relax. We will take care of this." 

- 

He turned to walk away. _It was your own doing. You should not have come. Anyone would have met the same fate_. Yet, as he did so - something caught his attention. A light. It came from where he had left Alena behind. Curious for a moment, he looked back over his shoulder - and span round. 

_How can this be?_

Alena stood in the middle of the blazing light. Something - something had changed about her. Not simply a physical transformation. Although she had returned to her older self, before she had become Heroine of Time for that brief spell, that aura still hung around her - and something else as well.   
No. Something else had happened, too. It was in her eyes.  
Her _eyes_! Blue flickered to green to red.  
It came to Oni in a flash. "What... who are you now?"  
"I think you know that. You might forget who you are - but I don't. Not even when your sisters entrusted me with what they truly are... I remain Alena. As _you_ remain Link." 

Their gazes locked. Somehow, he found it impossible to move. _Stop this! _he told himself. _She's just a mortal girl.  
Just?... How can you say that?   
(Go back to where this all began... That Termina night, when you were someone else...)  
When... what has happened... and what did she mean, talking about my sisters like that?_

He broke the spell, shaken, watching Alena's moves warily. She spoke first. "You can stop this now. Or I can stop you."  
"You tried already. What is different this time?"  
"This is," she replied. In her hands, the mask she held glowed and shifted into a ball of brilliant golden energy. The same light seemed to surround Alena herself. Flashes of all colours seemed to fuse into the glow. Oni'kara found himself almost unable to bear the brilliant glare. 

"I do this for us all..." Alena whispered. "I do this for the sake of Hyrule... for three of its creators, who sacrificed their own existence to stop you... and _for the Hero of Time who you once were._" 

She released the powers she held. "I'm sorry..." she murmured, almost inaudibly. 

In an instant, it all came back to him.  
Exactly who he was.  
Who he was fighting. 

"Alena, _no_!" he yelled, bringing his sword around to shield him from the onslaught of pure power.  
She heard the anguished tone in his voice. _He's... that's, that's really... after everything... inside, he was still... as I always thought ...   
_But by then, it was too late. The sparkling sphere was already crashing forwards out of her control. 

Three against one. The light of what had been the power of the goddesses seared the sky, and tore through the helpless form of their brother.  
Unable to resist, he was flung through the air like his own attacks. Thrown backwards, he hit the stone walls around the ranch, the rough edges as damaging as they would have been to a child while he was weakened. 

_Perhaps this is... no more than I deserve... for forgetting what I am here for..._  
The world went dark. 

- 

Silence. For a moment, a perfect stillness. Alena ran over quickly, both concerned and in a way surprised. The goddesses had given her their power, true, but she wouldn't have thought that would have been all that was needed - it was like he had just ..._given up_...   
She knelt down and looked carefully at his unmoving form. Out cold. His eyes were still open, but unseeing. Tenderly, she shut them, not wanting to see that empty and dulled gaze.   
Her breath caught in her throat. _I can't have... I can't have killed him, surely...  
Killed _who_? Link or Oni?  
(To come this far, and then in the end... the life that was lost... didn't matter?)  
No! He can't...   
Please... _

_My love...  
Survive this - be the person I know you are again..._

Gently, she rested her hand on his face, next to where an unpleasant cut sliced through the blue marking on his forehead. His skin was still warm, thankfully. She bent down to listen to the faint sounds of his breathing. Just audible. Just about. _Alive..._  
Apart from that, he seemed to have taken a number of injuries in her final attack and on impact with the ground. His armour had taken most of the force, but she could see a number of gashes across his exposed arms, legs and neck. What surprised her most - no blood, even though she could see that the cuts had gone through the flesh. A strange, glimmering ichor seemed to take its place. _What do you expect? _she told herself. _He is a... the Fierce Deity, after all..._  
Alena shook her head. She had no doubt that the powers she had been given would enable her to heal him, somehow - but _how_ was the problem. There was only one option - to get him back to the house and treat him there. Carefully reaching to lift him up - silently thinking that she would never be able to move him alone, before remembering - she noticed that his left arm lay at a strange angle. At a guess, it looked broken. Holding onto his sword until the very end had led to an awkward landing. _You're always the warrior._

- 

As she arrived back at the ranch house, the one person she cared for - and feared - the most in her arms, Alena found its other current inhabitants in a state of shock. The only person not alert was the still slumbering Talon. She decided not to wake the old rancher. It would only confuse things further.  
Zelda looked back at her parallel in some worry. "What are you doing? You were going to stop him..."  
"You think he doesn't look stopped? It's... it's over. Everything is. He's only just alive..."  
"You want him to survive?" Impa asked, surprised. "After..."  
"Yes. I do. This isn't just the Oni you know. He's the Link I know. Trust me. I can see it... I heard him. He needs attention fast... can't you see how badly..." _I injured him..._  
Malon glanced around the group. "I'm with Alena here. If he's really Link - the nearest person I ever had to a little brother... " Although the title seemed inappropriate on two counts, she had to say it. "He'll need help. I'll go get something for that arm." She began to leave, and paused. "But - how could you manage to... and I wouldn't have thought you'd be able to move him that easily..."  
Alena shook her head. "I'll explain later what happened. For now, I'll just say... There were four. Now there's just one." 

It took them some time to understand what she meant by that cryptic comment, by which time she had already taken him upstairs to their bedroom.  
Watching his comatose form, Alena gently whispered to him. She didn't know if he could even hear her. But she had to try. 

- 

_Why... what is worth living for now? _the Fierce Deity thought, in the emptiness of his own mind.   
_I tried to destroy the one person I truly loved.  
I destroyed those who were closest to me in all of infinity.  
Why should I even try to return?  
What is left?  
Leave this, Oni'kara... reawaken one day, unknowing..._

"...Link?" a soft voice whispered. 

_I can hear it... Something... _

"Please... come back. I know you're angry. I know you must feel... oh, I don't know what you feel. But... come back. For me? You can make things better... I know you can." 

_The light reaches for me, though I am a child of the darkness..._

"I'm waiting for you..." Alena paused. "...My love." 

_Perhaps... perhaps there is something left in the world after all.   
Perhaps I shouldn't give up on this life...  
No! I'm not ready...  
I'm coming back...  
My sisters...  
My love...  
I'll return for you...  
And repay, somehow, the wrongs I have done you..._

- 

Weakly, Oni Link's eyes struggled open. The glow they gave off was so faint that the pale colours in his irises - diamond, not sapphire - were still visible. Waiting for him was the only face he wanted to see.  
"'Lena? You... why did you..." _You called me back, from that darkness no-one should ever see. You saved me when you had no reason to..._  
"Quiet. Just - try to rest." She gently stroked her fingers along the crimson markings on his cheekbones. "Try to rest. For me?"  
He nodded, and let his eyes close. "Alright." 

-- 

A/N: Never dreamed I'd beat the 50-review barrier, or 100 over the whole series! Thanks... just keep them coming, OK? 


	11. Now Is Forever

**MindTrap**

(For the last time, the Zelda crew ain't mine. Warning: implied spoilers for OOA/OOS.) 

-- 

**_Chapter 10: Now Is Forever_**

-- 

Alena paused for a moment, and watched Link sleeping. Strange. For once, he didn't seem so - so fierce. Just the person she loved. "You'll get through this," she whispered. "I know you can." Shaking her head, she turned to leave him behind. Malon must have found a splint for that broken arm by now.  
But it was his broken soul she worried about. What had driven him to the edge like that? Why that sudden quest for vengeance? She couldn't imagine what had started it off.  
Malon knocked at the door. "Can I come in?"  
"Sure. Sure. He's asleep."  
She walked over. "Hope this does the trick," Malon remarked, strapping the bandages down. Already, some of Link's injuries were beginning to fade away.  
"I don't think we need to worry about fixing his injuries _outside_, somehow..." murmured Alena, pensive. "And we can't do anything about the others than what we already have." Together, they walked away.  
"What happened out there, anyway?" Malon asked. "I'd have thought it would have been..."  
"Suicide to fight him. It was." Catching a shocked look, Alena smiled back. "I'll explain everything - as far as I understand it, anyway - downstairs." 

- 

The battle took some explaining. No-one could quite believe Alena's account.  
More than that, they couldn't believe what she was implying.  
"They're gone?" Zelda asked. "No - I thought it might be that. But it's... it's strange, thinking..."  
"That the only real god left in the world is currently asleep upstairs, and even he's still human in some way."  
There was silence for a moment. "And the..."  
"I don't know what happened there. The pieces seemed attracted to his sword, somehow - wait!" Alena snapped her fingers. "That's still outside, where - we left it."  
"There's some sort of a connection there? Is that what you're saying?"  
"There must be. I'm going to see. Anyone else coming?" Everyone waiting nodded and headed away. 

- 

Link couldn't rest so easily as Alena had hoped for him. Even if his body slept, his mind was still alert inside. His memories - whether of two thousand years, or twenty-four - collided and confused each other.  
Clarity came slowly.   
_The only things I cared about... it took me a new life to realise what love was again.  
Before that... what was I? Just... rage, terror, chaos...  
But it's done now. Another chance, Oni'kara, Link.  
Let the past go. Make a fresh start.  
The worlds need you more than ever now.  
Just... let it go..._  
He drifted away beyond dreams. 

- 

The night air was cold, but the moon was full, casting its silver light over the fields. It wasn't hard to see where the battle had been. The land was scorched and damaged, a long trail leading back across the ground to where the wall had collapsed as Oni Link had crashed into it. As Alena had mentioned, his sword was still there. Somehow, away from its bearer, it looked different - almost spectral, not really of this world. _Is it, anyway? _Alena thought. She looked over. "I think... I'll be able to carry this. Just for long enough." She paused. "What are you looking at?"  
Her parallel glanced across, and put her finger to her lips before waving her over.  
"Who... no! They can't be..." 

In the shade of the wall, three young girls - seemingly around eight or nine years old - huddled together asleep. To Alena, they looked almost familiar. "They survived... they gave up everything, but they still survived," she whispered.  
"Wouldn't think they could be - who they must be," Impa remarked quietly. "They remind me so much of you when you were that age." The comment was aimed at Zelda, but Alena's heart jumped on hearing it. She quickly had to remind herself that the Sheikah woman could not be her mother, despite everything. She sighed, and shook her head.  
"Wake up," she whispered to one of the sleeping children. "Come on. Time to..."  
The girl slowly stirred, blinking brilliant emerald-green eyes. "What - who? Who're..." she started.  
_You don't remember me? _"My name's Alena. I'm guessing you're ...Farore, right?"  
"Yeah, but how do you know my name?"  
"...We've met before."  
"Before? Before when?"  
The adults exchanged glances. This was going to take some working out. "Not so long ago. Come with me. Your sisters, too."  
Farore glanced around at the other sleepers, as if remembering them for a first time. "Oh, yeah." 

- 

"Wha'... who are these people?" a confused Talon asked, as the group arrived back inside the warmth of the ranch house. "All these strangers turnin' up all of a sudden..."  
Malon smiled. "May I introduce her highness, Zelda..." The rancher started on hearing the name. "But she's not here on official business, so there's no need for formalities. This is Impa, and the three children are Din, Farore and Nayru."  
Hearing he had a royal visitor was shock enough. But this... "You're tellin' me that these kids are s'posed to be the..."  
She quickly stopped him. "Please, Dad - don't say it. I'll explain. And - uh - we've got another visitor."  
"Do I know'm?"  
"Yes... and no. He's kind of ill - he's sleeping it off upstairs. It's Li..." She stopped suddenly. _Dad doesn't know. He won't recognise him... I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to lie to you. Okay, it's not quite a lie, but..._ Her words tasted bitter. "Our last guest's Lord Oni'kara." _You just called him that? Title and all?_  
Before Talon could react to the news, the still sleepy trio picked it up. "You mean he's here too?" an innocent voice asked.  
Alena crouched down to talk, while Malon tried to help her father understand. "You... remember him?"  
"Can't forget my big brother, can I?" Nayru giggled. Her sisters shrugged.  
"You're... not angry at him?"  
"Should I be? What did he do?"  
_You don't remember? Perhaps it's best this way... _She shook her head. "You're... too young to understand." 

- 

It was slow, but Link recovered steadily. That one assault had almost totally drained him of energy - although his powers remained, as he was, they were unusable. He spent a lot of time asleep, dreaming restlessly, unaware of the numbers of visitors he was getting. Zelda had left for the castle early, but her companion had stayed for some time. She had been glad to help with the three apparent youngsters who were getting under Talon's feet.  
Their brother didn't even know that they still existed, as he slept on. 

- 

Leaving a red healing potion on the bedside table, Alena turned away to leave Link rest. Pushing the door open, she heard a yelp - someone was there, trying to seem inconspicuous. Her messy red hair was tied back roughly out of her deep ruby eyes.  
"Is he... going to be alright?"  
She smiled back. "You keep asking me, kid." _Kid? You just called one of the Three a kid? Well... she is, anyway... _"He'll be fine. Just let him get some sleep."  
"He's been asleep for ages! Longer than Mr. Talon does! Why can't I see him... I drew this for him, see?"   
Despite herself, Alena laughed as Din passed her a picture. It wasn't too bad a resemblance. The only thing she had made a mistake on was the eyes. "Okay. Just be quiet." She paused. "Wait. What's that in the corner, there?"  
"I dunno," Din shrugged. "I just thought I had to draw it. I think I used to know what it is, but I forgot."  
Uncomfortably, Alena remembered that the child she was talking to was more than just a little girl. She wouldn't have unknowingly put a Triforce symbol in her picture otherwise. _What does she remember, really, deep inside?_ For a second, the power she had been lent burnt in her fingers. _This is yours, kid, not mine. But I daren't..._

_No, wait.   
I know whose this is.  
_Followed by an anxious Din, Alena walked back in to Link's bedroom. Gently, she laid a hand across his forehead.  
_I've got a gift for you, this time._

- 

The next day, Alena rolled over in bed, loath to open her eyes to the morning light. Something was wrong, though, she realised slowly. Quickly, she ran next door, careful not to disturb anyone else. The room was empty. Link had gone.  
She jerked fully awake. _He hasn't left already, has he? I didn't even say goodbye..._  
_Don't say... he's gone..._  
She got to her feet and dressed quickly, preparing to look. One thing caught her eyes quickly. A smile burst across her face.  
A set of black and silver armour was piled against the wall. 

- 

The early autumn dawn was crisp and clear, an amber sun rising in a crimson-striped sky, as he walked alone to the scene of the battle. The dawn of the first day of the rest of forever, he thought. And a perfect day, at that. He could hear a horse whickering gently in the distance, and the first birds' songs carried through the air. Otherwise, it was silent of all human sounds.  
Only the sounds of his own heartbeat and the thoughts in his head could disturb him.  
_Who am I?  
It's all become so hazy... I knew, not so long ago. I remembered everything.   
But even now, it's becoming hazy, and I don't know why... Did I choose to forget? I've forgotten even that...  
Surely, it's better this way. I won't let the past torment me.  
I can't let it.  
Someone else's past - my future._

Calming his thoughts, almost meditatively, he began to flick his sword from hand to hand. The only enemy he had here was his memory, and he was winning that battle already. It just felt good to be out of bed and on his feet. Alive, again.  
Life wasn't so bad, after all. 

Silently, Link continued his shadow-fighting, trying to decide who he was. Most of that past which had been unlocked in his mind had faded into the unconscious background. One thing remained, however.  
The Fierce Deity could hardly forget what he had put his sisters through. He felt more alone than ever, somehow. Even though he knew he could count on his human adopted sister and the woman he loved, he had seen the fear and distance in the others' eyes. 

The silence was broken. A voice called out to him.  
He snapped round, putting his sword down. "Alena?"  
"Of course, Link. Who were you expecting?"  
"To be honest, I wasn't expecting anyone." He paused. "And I wasn't expecting anyone to care for me after I got... got caught up in my own past. Strange, that. I don't even remember what I was fighting about - it's all gone. Like the memory of a dream. Perhaps that's the best way, really. I don't want to be tied to that sort of a past. I know what I am, who I am. But that doesn't mean I have to live the same life that was lost twenty-four years ago."  
"You're right. It's gone, now. And the impression I get is that you've got a pretty good life coming, if you can hold on to that." 

"I can only hope so. And it'll be better for knowing you're here." Softly, he half-lifted Alena from the ground. She returned his strangely gentle grip and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, lifting herself the rest of the way to plant a tender kiss on his lips. For a moment, time was forgotten. The past, present and future all seemed to be made of each other's touch. 

The spell was all too brief, however, as Link lowered Alena to the floor again. "Two thousand years..." he murmured. "In two thousand years, I'll still remember what that was like."  
"I'll remind you any time," she laughed, affectionately pulling on his hair.  
"Hey, watch it!" he laughed. "That hurt! I'm going to have to get a replacement for that hat..."  
"What, hurt you, now?" she grinned in return. "Big, strong Oni'kara?"  
"That's always 'Link' to you. You know that," the warrior replied, a soft smile on his face. Not that he cared what Alena called him - but coming from her, his other name sounded artificial.  
"Of course. But you know I care no matter what you call yourself." She paused. "But that reminds me. It's... it's about your sisters."  
A lump formed in his throat. "Why? What's happened to them? I thought... I thought I... they were gone..."   
"No. They've survived - despite everything, they survived. Don't worry. It's just that..." 

Alena was interrupted by what almost looked like a small, green-haired missile divebombing Link. He stepped back, shocked, as a young girl of apparently eight years old threw her arms around him. "What... what's..." he started.  
The girl laughed. "You're alright, Oni! We were all..."  
He exchanged glances with Alena, about to ask who the child was - but suddenly realised he didn't have to. He could see it in her mind. The name she had used helped to confirm it. No-one else he knew would say it without fear in their voice. "Farore? That's... you?"  
"Silly brother! Who else would I be?"  
Gently, Link disentangled himself from her grip, and gestured to Alena. "They're children?" he whispered.  
"That's what I was going to tell you. Kids. No memory of... what they were before. Only of you, their big brother." 

Tears refracted rainbows in his softly glowing eyes as he reached down and scooped the young Farore up. "What's wrong?" she asked.  
"Nothing's wrong," he replied, half-lying. "I'm just... happy to see you." _But... why did it have to be like this? I never wanted this to happen to you...  
Liar! You did...  
That's in the past - someone else's past. Oh... my sisters... I'm glad you're safe... but this was never meant to happen..._  
"I'm glad to see you too," she laughed. "Everyone didn't think you were going to be okay. But you are..."  
"Better now I know you are too," Link nearly choked.  
"Why wouldn't I be?"  
_Because of me. If you could only remember what I nearly did to you... but perhaps it's best this way.  
But... if you can't remember who you are... were?...  
That means...  
_"Do you mind?" he asked, still slightly overcome. He could face monsters without flinching - but not good news. "I've got to have a word with Alena."  
"Okay," Farore shrugged, as her brother turned aside. 

"'Lena - " he began. "After we..."  
"After we fought, do you mean?"   
Link nodded, a little reluctant to mention the battle himself. The thought of losing had had an impact on the Fierce Deity's feelings, and he found it hard to admit to. "After that happened... you didn't return their power, did you? Otherwise they wouldn't still be children..."  
"No. You're right there." She looked into his diamond eyes, unafraid. "I gave them to you when you slept. Who else?..."  
"What?!" For a moment, he was speechless. "You're telling me - Alena, you must be joking! - that you actually surrendered that sort of power to someone who could have used it to..."  
"I knew you weren't going to, oh, destroy the worlds with it or anything. I trust you, Oni Link. You were the only one who could have handled them. I'm just human. I couldn't."  
"...I'm not sure I trust myself," he replied in an undertone. "And as soon as I can, I'm going to do something about this. This sort of power..." Almost idly, he span a ball of light on the tip of his finger. "It belongs in the hands of its owners."  
But as he watched Farore out of the corner of his eye, sitting on the corner of a fence, he knew that wasn't the way. They were children, he thought. They deserved the chance to grow up that he had never had. Unless...  
"I think... I've got an idea. ...Farore?" he called, feeling a little strange about yelling the name. "Could you come here a moment? No, wait... get the others..."  
"Sure!" she yelled, dropping down and racing off.  
"What are you thinking?"  
"I can't restore their full power. It would destroy them as it almost did me. But if I was to let them have it, little by little..."  
Alena nodded. She could see what he was thinking. "Then maybe by the time they're old enough to understand what they are, they'll be ready."  
Link smiled faintly. "That's it. I don't want them to have to go through what I did." Almost silently, he ran after his little sister -   
- but as he did so, a strange, giddy feeling came over him. It wasn't that he still felt unwell. Even his broken arm had healed perfectly. 

The thing that felt wrong was with the structure of the world.   
_What's happening now?  
...This shouldn't be..._

- 

"Steady on! You're going to break the floorboards..." Alena almost smiled, but she could see just how serious - and worried - Link was.   
"It's no good, though! They can't stay here, I can't stay here... but I don't know what would be best for them... and for us."  
"Link... Oni'kara. " Alena felt sure she should be trying to get used to the other version of his name. "What options do you think there are?"  
"Someone's got to look after my... _little_ sisters... and I'm the only one who can. I'm the only one who understands their powers - our powers. But it's not that simple! I can feel it... history's in chaos. This timeline shouldn't even exist. Although I don't regret one second of the time we've spent together - it should never have happened, the history that has gone on is the wrong one! You should be back in Termina, the past should remember King Ganondorf not Lord Oni'kara as its destroyer... that's not just vanity, it's true..."  
"Then... you've got to leave. It's obvious."  
"Too obvious." He paused for a moment. "I think I know what I've got to do. But I don't like the sound of it. I've got to... send them into the future. Just far enough that the world's still familiar, but so far that they'll be safe from what I have to do here to heal the timelines. About two hundred years. Then - I'll meet them there, again. When history's calm." Link was silent for a moment. "I know it sounds selfish, I don't know - cruel, maybe - but it's the only way."  
"I don't think it sounds selfish at all. As you said, it's your only choice." 

- 

"You're going to leave us alone?" Din whispered, frightened. She had no idea why her brother had brought her, Farore and Nayru to this place. She hadn't been here before as far as she could remember - in fact, she couldn't clearly remember anything but the ranch. The only assumption she could have made was that she was born there. In a way, that wasn't too far from the truth. And now they'd all been taken to this unfamiliar village, through a strange gateway, for reasons she couldn't guess.  
"It won't be long. Only a couple of days. You'll all be perfectly safe. Don't... don't worry." Link tried to speak calmly, but he was just as worried as any of them. What if something went wrong? _Nothing will go wrong... _he told himself. _There's no other way to do this._  
"I'm scared..." Farore looked up, her green eyes meeting his white. "But you'll be there soon enough, so I'll be okay."  
_Courage... yes. That's right._ "I'll... be there for you. Just remember that." Getting caught up in uncharacteristic emotion, he knelt down and wrapped his arms around his sisters. "Remember."  
Silent, now, he walked away. A faint tune caught his ears. Glancing back quickly, he caught sight of Nayru playing on her harp - a present he'd given her, spotting a musical talent during the brief days they had spent together. _You'll be alright._  
_(I just hope I will.)_

When he was sure they were out of sight, he opened the portal back to the past, back to the Hyrule he knew. Alena was there, waiting. "You did it?"  
"...They're safe. I left them in a town - I think its name was Lynna. There were enough people there to watch them..." 

He paused. His memory flared up, treacherously.  
_"...Another timeline... another date... ah, yes! Two hundred years should do it, do you think?"_  
_I sent them forwards to Twinrova's exile... what if they meet each other?  
...I'll just have to get there first, won't I? Protect them as long as I can._

"What's wrong?" Alena asked.   
"...Nothing." Link stopped. "Damn it, it's not nothing! I've got to leave... got to leave _you_... and I know there's no chance I'll see you again!"  
"You didn't think you'd be coming back when you did this time..."  
"That's true. But it won't even be possible for me to come back. This timeline's not even going to exist any more..."  
Alena looked at him in shock. "What do you mean?" she asked, uncertain.  
"What I said. This history... it's going to fade into the one that should have existed. I'll promise you this, though - promise everyone. This way, things will be better."  
"How's it going to be better? When you're gone... I'll miss you so much! Here... take this." She unclipped a pendant in the shape of the Sheikah eye that hung round her neck and passed it over. "A little memory... of what used to be. But... it's going to be so different without you here..."  
Gently, Link wrapped his arms around her, and held her tight for a moment. "You're right there. But you'll never know how..." he whispered tenderly. 

- 

_there_

- 

She barely slept that night. Her dreams were full of the last vision she had seen as Link had left. He had been silhouetted against the sunset, a strong and silent figure, and one she doubted she could forget. His last enigmatic remarks had flooded her head at the same time. 

"Link..." she whispered. "Come back..."  
"What do you mean, come back?" a familiar and welcome voice responded. "I've been here all along..."  
She bolted awake, and looked around.   
This wasn't the ranch house where she had lived the past three months. This was the wood panelled walls of her own home. Back in Termina.  
Beside her lay... She almost screamed. For a second, it seemed to be a stranger. But the golden-haired man who was still half asleep could only be one person. "That's you?" she whispered, all too aware of how stupid the question sounded.   
"Who were you expecting? The Fierce Deity?" he asked with a wry smile.   
"Exactly..." she murmured. "What's happening here?" Uncertain, she got out of bed and tried to adjust to her new surroundings. Now she understood how Link had felt being catapulted between timelines...  
_But he's there, how he used to be, and he doesn't seem to remember...  
This is too strange..._  
She spotted a book lying on the windowsill. A title was on the front - in her own handwriting. _My diary._ Almost feeling like an intruder, Alena opened it to the last written page. 

_September 5. _"That's yesterday," she muttered. _I think I have just been made the happiest person in the whole world - or any other. Link proposed! Of course, I said yes - that's obvious. The day's been settled for the carnival next year. He doesn't like the idea of swapping masks, but I guess that's just after what happened as a kid..._

She flipped further and further back through the book. The diary seemed to go back at least two years. Some of the things recorded here, in the early pages, were familiar. __

_May 24. I think I'm in love... I know. I know it's stupid to fall in love at a first sight. But he's unlike anyone I've met before. His name's Link. If I'm to believe everything he told me, he's from another world - one he saved from an evil king! Says he came here because he's an explorer... Maybe he's making it up. But even if he is, I don't care. I'm seeing him again tomorrow. We'll see then._

She remembered writing that, too. With one difference. Alena recalled that in her diary it had said _...Says he came here to escape a war_. That must have been the difference. This was the timeline that she had been told about - the one that should have happened, not the one that did.  
Other entries were not so familiar - after all, she had not even lived here for months. One entry she clearly remembered writing wasn't there. The day that Link had revealed his fierce past to her on the beach was totally absent - any reference to the Fierce Deity was gone from the pages. She had a faint suspicion that if she was to mention the name Oni'kara to the sleeping Link he would just shrug and remark "isn't that Sheikah for something?". 

This had to be a dream. But not like any dream she remembered. And what sort of a dream started from asleep, anyway? So. That left one obvious option. This was real.  
"Link..." she started, a little uncertain. "I'm going for a walk, okay?"  
He sat up slightly and opened his eyes. Alena had forgotten just how piercing a blue they had been. "Sure." 

- 

Clock Town felt unfamiliar, for all it had been her home so long. The very air seemed to taste different. The sounds, the smells - alien, yet comforting. And more than anything, real. Already, this felt like reality, and Hyrule the dream.   
_Maybe I did dream it_, she thought. _I mean, the three goddesses as children, the Triforce of Courage, could all that have really happened? _As she thought, she glanced down at her hand. There was a faint mark there, but no clear golden triangle.  
_It must be... but gods, I'm so confused... why can't I remember anything of what really happened, then? Have I got amnesia, or something?_

Still thinking, she wandered to the tower in the south of the town, built for the carnival the year before and never dismantled. It had been her favourite spot since then. From here, she could see for miles on a clear day - and this was particularly clear.   
_This is my home.   
I'm back. If I ever left._  
Her glance traced around Clock Town. Something caught her eye. A motion in the square to the north-west. 

Her breath caught. 

_It was real, after all!  
Who else... it was real, I lived it, and he's real...  
What did I expect? I don't know how he got there that fast, but then again, I don't know how I got here..._  
Perhaps it was just her imagination, but for a second, she saw him look in her direction. _He can't have seen me, surely..._. 

Alena laughed quietly. "Don't worry... Oni Link. I'll remember you." _Even if I'm moving on, I'll remember you.   
All things change - perhaps this is for the best..._

__- 

_Don't worry, Alena. I saw you. And I'll remember you, too.  
But these are our lives now. Our destinies.  
This is the way it should be...  
This is the way it is. We must both accept that.  
You have this world where you are loved.  
(Home... where you are supposed to be... the way you are supposed to be...)_

_Whereas I...  
I've got more than this world to explore._

_Farewell.  
I'll carry your memory into infinity..._

_Yours always - your Oni'kara._

- 

A/N: 

I'm reallyreally_really _sorry that this chapter was delayed so long. Blame my Art exam... and, well, I don't think I ever broke the 4K word mark before on anything! For me, this is loooooonnnnnggg... 

Anyway, it's all finished now. (Except the epilogue.)  
Time to roll the credits.  
Thank you so much to everyone who's taken the time to review, or anyone who's gotten in contact with me over email or AIM. I wouldn't be here with a finished story if it wasn't for your support. You guys are the best. Anyone who's hung in there for the full story, here's another thanks for you.  
Thanks even to the people who read the story and didn't bother to review (and I know you're out there...) - why not? :p  
And _no_ thanks to my college teachers. 

_A new day brings new adventure. But for now... rest easy, heroes._  



	12. Epilogue: Restoration

**MindTrap**

- 

**_Epilogue: Restoration_**

-- 

_200 years later_

- 

"Farore! How did you get up there..." He paused. "I don't want to guess. Come down - no. I'll get you."  
"Aw..."  
"You know that's not going to work."  
"Yeah, but, Oni..."  
"Putting about five I's in my name is not going to convince me otherwise. Wait there." 

A group of the Lynna townsfolk watched the newcomers from a distance. None of them could believe that the strange young man who had arrived two weeks ago was all he claimed to be, or _just_ what he claimed to be. Sometimes, he could seem to be nothing but a caring guardian to the three children known to be his younger sisters - although the family resemblance was only slight, nothing but their Hylian ears in a community where few had them. But others... Most people in the small city had their suspicions. How could somebody like that be just a big brother? A warrior who had arrived in full armour, with glowing eyes and a strangely marked face, carrying weapons that some of them didn't recognise...  
It was impossible to reconcile that image with that of the figure they were watching trying to rescue his little sister from a precarious cliff face, where city met mountains in the north.  
They weren't expecting his next move. As they watched, he seemed to flicker out of existence, and reappear behind the youngster. "Let's go home, Farrie," he remarked.  
"Okay," she replied, holding onto his hand, before the pair vanished. 

- 

They walked along the lightly wooded path towards the home they had only recently made. For their first days in Labrynna, the three sisters had been looked after by an elderly lady while they waited for their brother to find them somewhere more permanent. Now, though, this place to the northeast of the town suited their needs. "You know you're not supposed to use your powers where everyone can see, Farore. I don't want them asking questions."  
"They do anyway. And you did, just then..."  
"It was that or leave you in danger..." For a moment, he was silent.  
"What's up?"  
"Sorry. I'm just thinking." 

He had a lot to think about. Two hundred years had done little to diminish his feelings towards Din, Farore and Nayru - and had done just as little to dim his memories of his first love. Not since the day he had left Alena in Termina had he referred to himself by the name she had, the name of the Hero of Time she had come to love. Somehow, it seemed only respectful, or only appropriate.  
As far as Oni'kara was concerned, Link was long dead. Occasionally, the Sheikah phrase for Fierce Deity had turned up in his travels, but the words 'Link-Aderan' were a title and not a name. He had still yet to determine whether it was more than sheer coincidence - and as any of his mortal family had long since died, there was no chance he would ever do so. 

Not that it mattered. He had more to worry about with his immortal relatives. It had been a sudden transition from the wanderer and warrior he was by nature, to what he had to be now. His memory had never betrayed him - and seeing the smiling faces of his sisters for the first time in two centuries had reminded him of the task ahead. Around three quarters of their combined powers still remained with him - too great a burden to bear much longer, and too great a risk. 

"I did it right though, didn't I?" Farore interrupted his thoughts.   
"Huh? Sorry. I was - in another world. What did you do right?"  
"The warp. I got it..."  
"Yes. You did. Just - not in the middle of town next time..." Farore's Wind. A good sign. Even if she had no memory of the name. 

- 

Inside, two children talked, as if afraid to be overheard.  
"My mother's gonna kill me if she finds out I'm here talking to you, Nayru..."  
"Don't be silly, Ralph!"  
"It's not you. It's... uh... it's your big brother. He's..."  
"Scary?" Ralph nodded assent. "I know he looks it. But he's got a good heart."  
"It's just those eyes of his, he - creeps me out - whenever he looks at me... "  
"I'm sure. But it's okay. " Even though they had only known each other a short time, they had already become firm friends. Nayru felt she could trust him. "It's 'cause we've all got these special powers, he says, in our family... he's trying to teach us, but I can't get the hang of it yet. I don't know that I really oughta be telling you..." 

"No. You shouldn't." They span round. His jaw dropped. Even dressed almost casually, without his usual armour - but still carrying a weapon as always - it was still hard not to pick up a feeling of threat from where Oni stood in the doorway. Farore was there too, giving him an almost apologetic look. "But I don't blame you. Come here... Ralph, was it?" He nodded, and a little uncertainly, walked over. "You've been told a great secret here. I need your promise. You're not going to tell anyone else what Nayru said to you." It was a statement, not a request. He knew the boy would not disagree.  
"Y-yes, sir. I'll keep it secret. You can count on me." He paused. "She's my friend. I'll do anything for her."  
"It's too soon to say things like that," was the reply. But even then, he could sense something in Ralph's mind. A slight taint of what he could call destiny. Somehow, he was going to be important - but not on his own.   
Oni allowed himself a rare smile. "If I'm not here, you watch out for her, right? I'll be checking..."  
"I'll... I'll do that," Ralph stammered, swallowing, before making as fast an exit as he could.   


"What do you mean? You're gonna be here for us, aren't you?" a shocked Nayru asked.   
Her brother sighed. "I can only try. But some day - I'm going to have to leave you. Not soon. It'll be years, if I can help it, before I do." He paused. "But before that day, I'll do all I can for you." 

- 

_10 years later_

- 

Princess Zelda watched from the tower, and smiled. At last. Peace. She had no need to worry for her safety, or that of the people around her. Hyrule, Holodrum, Labrynna - all could relax.  
Suddenly, something caught her eye, sparkling in the night sky. What was that? A shooting star? A brilliant silver streak flared overhead and flashed away into the distance. Whatever it was, it must have been a good sign. Quietly, she made a wish. Not for herself.  
_I wish... Link... I hope he'll be safe, wherever he's gone off to...  
The Oracles, too..._

- 

Unseen, the silver flare shot down towards Holodrum's shoreline. A closer spectator than the princess might have seen the human figure at its heart. But in the light that cloaked him, no-one could have seen his expression.  
Anger. At himself.  
_I let them down! How could I... I watched them so long, but...  
But they're safe now.  
That's a strange coincidence, though. The one the Golden Power chose as their protector. I wonder - was ...he, my descendant? (I should say the Hero's? ...and Alena's?) I guess it's only appropriate..._

Oni touched down silently, and took a deep breath. Normally, he hated flying like that. He'd only learned the trick recently, and didn't care to use it more than he had to. It drained his power quickly - and besides, there was no chance to see the scenery.   
Still, it was the fastest way to get back here. Where the three he cared for the most were waiting.   
But, for all he had cared - they had never known the truth. Not about him - or themselves. 

He looked around the sandy beach. If he remembered rightly - and his memory had never let him down yet - Horon Town was just to his northeast. They'd be waiting there, he guessed. Farore would, at the very least. Probably the others, too, after what had happened recently.  
For once, the Guardian of Time felt he had none to waste. He broke into a run. 

- 

"What... who's that, at this time of night?" the Oracle of Secrets mumbled, hearing a loud knock at the door. "Whoever you are, you'd better have a good reason..." She'd hardly had a chance to rest recently. Her special powers had been almost overused. The telekinetic abilities and perfect memory that she had been granted were currently giving her a headache. She'd never quite told the hero she'd been helping the full scale of her abilities - and neither had she told him her relationship to the others. As far as the young Link had been concerned, there was no tie of blood between the Oracles - and he could never have guessed from their appearances. Farore had never been sure whether that was a good or a bad thing.  
The knock came again. "Okay... I'm coming..." She didn't have the time to fix her hair into its traditional style, pausing only to tie it back out of her face. "You'd better..."  
She opened the door - and stopped short in surprise.   
"What're you doing here? I haven't seen you in ages!" she laughed.  
One of the few who could laugh on seeing Oni'kara on their doorstep. 

He almost returned the laugh. "Seems like only yesterday to me," he remarked truthfully.   
Farore's mood changed slightly. "Where have you been..." she asked. "I thought you said..."  
"I'd be there for you. I know." He paused. "I know what happened here. It was all my fault. I left you alone, when I knew that those two witches were around..."  
"You knew about Twinrova? And you never _said_?"  
"I knew they were dangerous - but I had no idea they would do what they did to you! Our kind of power is a dangerous gift. They've tried to use me, too. I'd have been there if I could, if there was any way at all... I didn't realise until it was too late."  
"Thought for you and Nayru, time was just another direction."  
He almost visibly flinched, but not quite. "When something's going to happen, it's going to happen. I can't change that..." He sighed. "It seems we've got a lot to talk about. How about we go over to Eyeglass Lake, and talk there? It'll be quiet. And the things I've got to say are ones I don't want overhearing."  
"The lake? This time of night?"  
"You don't have to play all quiet and innocent on me. I know your teleport tricks. Remember when you were little, I had to get you down from that cliff when you'd gotten up there by accident..."   
She laughed. "Fine. Lake it is. Do you want a word with the others, too? They're still asleep, I think."  
"...Afterwards. They've had a hard time. Best let them recover a little." _Before I drop this on them._  
"Fine, then." 

- 

They looked out over the lakeside, talking about the 'old days'. For six years, the Guardian of Time had been a guardian to three young children. He'd kept his promise to them, slowly restoring and training them in their power. In some ways, the life the young Oracles had lived was a more normal one than Link had ever had. Although Nayru had remained in Labrynna, where their home had been, the other two had eventually moved away to Holodrum. At that time, he'd left them, too. They could look after themselves, surely, he'd thought - even if Twinrova had proved that assumption wrong.   
Then again, they'd had a second protector. Although the Triforce of Destiny had taken the form of a weapon, its sister pieces had protected their creators in just the same way. 

Eventually, the conversation faded away, as his main concern pressed on his mind. "I didn't just visit to say 'hi', Farrie," he murmured almost inaudibly. "I've... I've got something to tell you. I've been keeping this secret so long... Two hundred years, I've been waiting..."  
"What do you mean, 'two hundred years'? You're about, I thought about thirty - you never said..." she asked, confused.  
"That's what I mean. I don't know that you're going to thank me for telling you the truth, but it's got to come out... you've got to know." His voice turned serious.  
"Did you ever really stop to think what your name means?"  
"Not really. I mean, of course I know who I'm named after, but... I always just thought our parents must have had a thing about legends." 

There was a deep pause. "It's not that simple. Courage, power, wisdom and destiny... it wasn't that we were named _for_ them. They are what we are. Farore - _you_ are the goddess of courage. You always were."  
She looked at him in shock. "What? You're... you're telling me, I'm..."  
"I'm telling you the truth."  
Farore fell silent. "I... that's impossible. You're having some sort of a joke with me, Oni."  
"I've never been more serious in my life! Would I lie to you? I knew it would be hard for you to believe... but I can't change the facts of the matter..."  
Their eyes met. She had always wondered about her big brother's strange appearance and powers - not that it had mattered to any of them. In a family with magical skill of their sort, the last thing on their minds was the matter of what someone's eyes looked like. But what he was telling her now was the most incredible thing she had ever heard. 

- 

_You'd call me Oni'kara.  
My friends called me Link - a long time ago.  
But anyone else...  
They know me as the Fierce Deity._

_Strange, isn't it? I can see it in your eyes. In your mind. But it's the truth. You knew all the legends. All the tales I told you, from your earliest memories - the four creators, the conflicts, battles and exiles - they're all true. As far as they go.  
But, at the end, during that final battle... I didn't tell you what came next.  
Losing their power didn't mean losing their life. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here talking to you.  
Reincarnation, rebirth - it's an immortal's curse. Destruction does not mean oblivion. For me, once, it meant a rebirth into a mortal child's body, leaving me to live my life in these physical worlds. (The plural is deliberate...) But for you, the spirit realm awaits. That's what the name 'oracle' means. Someone connected to the gods. And you don't get any more of a connection than this. That for all you've been living as human as long as you can remember, you never were_. 

_-_

"And it's time for you to become what you were once again. For all you've forgotten it, you once had to tell me the exact same thing.   
"Trust me. Farore, Goddess of Courage... it's your time. I guess this is just - just another link in the chain of fate..." 

He grasped her hands gently.  
The world exploded in silver and green around them. 

_You're going home._

-- 

A/N: 

Okay. That. Is. _It._ Mindtrap's _completely_ finished.   
::collapses:: 

For everyone who's after a sequel... I'm afraid that 'Genesis' has kind of been put on the back burner. Although I'd love to write it, it hasn't really come together. However - Part Four, 'Generations', is coming soon (well, as soon as my exams are finished...) 

Thank you all for reading. See you next time... 


End file.
